On October 15th, 2020 the revitalized Ethnic Studies minor hosted a panel discussion on Race and Racism. The event was publicized in the SB-NewsPress and Noozhawk. Information about the panel can be found below:
Audio Recording:
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On October 14th 2020, hosted a conversation between students, faculty, staff and administrators. The panel featured Blake Thomas (ICP Director), Dr. Stu Cleek (Dean of Students), Dr. Mark Sargent (Provost), Dr. Lisa DeBoer (Professor of Art and Advisor to the President on the White Jesus Window),Sam Wetzel (Student), and Tori Davis (BSU Co-Leader). Michael Kong (WCSA Diversity and Inclusion Senator) moderated the conversation. The full conversation can be viewed on vimeo or at the archive below:
Over the 2020-2021 academic year the provosts office will be assessing the "Diversity" Institutional Learning Outcome (ILO) which reads: "Westmont graduates will effectively analyze topics and human experiences using categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, and disability with respect to a biblical vision of human flourishing." The last assessment of the "Diversity" ILO was during the 2016-2017 school year. The 2016 "Diversity ILO Interim Report" and "2016 Faculty/Staff Survey" can be found here. They are also at the bottom of this post. The assesment team is as follows:
Dr. Dinora Cardoso (Spanish), Lead Assessment Specialist for Diversity ILO Assessment Dr. Lisa DeBoer (Art) Dr. Alister Chapman (History) Dr. Michael Everest (Chemistry) Dr. Blake Kent (Sociology and IR) Dr. Scott Lisea (College Pastor) Dr. Kya Mangrum (English) Dr. Tatiana Nazarenko (Dean of Curriculum and EE) Dr. Carmel Saad (Psychology Dr. Meredith Whitnah (Sociology)
A PDF was added to the "Education, Enrichment and Impact" page on Westmont's website with a statment from Dr. Mark Sargent. The statement can be viewed here or below:
On September 9, 2020, President Beebe, Pastor Lisea, Professors Telford Work, and Lisa DeBoer spoke in chapel addressing the College's plans for replacing the racist and colonial image of white Jesus Standing on North America. Pastor Lisea is a signatory on the faculty staff "Public Letter of Lament, Repentance, and Commitment". Professors Telford Work and Lisa DeBoer (advisors to the President on the chapel window) and President Beebe did not sign the open letter. Their talk marked one of the first times the subject of the window was addressed in chapel since the #WestmontWhiteJesus student movement started in February of 2019. The speakers did not name racism, white supremacy or settler colonialism. The full chapel address can be viewed below, and the comments on the window begin at 7:37:
In two posts to their Instagram account @spj_westmont launched a dual campaign to gather stories and art from BIPOC Westmont community members. The posts can be seen below:
On August 31, 2020, a new organization launched an Instagram account @spj_westmont. Their first post encapsulated their vision and can be seen below:
At 9:25pm on August 19th, 2020, Dean of students Stu Cleek sent a letter via email to the second year, third year, fourth year, and fifth year mailing lists. The letter contents are attached below: Dear Returning Students,
As I begin to write these words to you, it is a late summer evening. I am sitting at a desk in my garage, which has become my “office” these last several strange months. I have the garage door up and am trying to take advantage of the relatively cool Carpinteria evening breeze in the midst of a Western heat wave. I can hear the sound of bubbling water coming from the fountain near my front door, and I find myself desperately wishing the water I am hearing was, instead, rushing from Franklin Creek in the High Sierras where I would normally be backpacking with the Residence Life Staff this time of year. I’m desperately longing for “normal.” I miss you. You, after all, are the heartbeat of Westmont. I miss feeling your energy and passion, hearing your questions and dreams, and being inspired by witnessing firsthand your capacity for creativity, and compassion. I look forward to the time (in the not too distant future) when we will be able to be together again, and we will be able to give a proper Westmont welcome in person to all the new students who are starting their Westmont journey on-line. Of course, even as I type these words, I’m mindful that many in our community are actually longing for change at Westmont rather than a return to the status quo when it comes to issues of race, ethnicity, equity and inclusion. With this in mind, I’m writing to share both some general updates as well as my own hopes for the year. Many of you know that, earlier this summer, as the country was grappling with the horrific killing of George Floyd and the open wounds of racism in our systems and communities it displayed, a video posted by a Westmont student earlier in the spring to a social media site was publicly reported to the college. The video was troubling and racist, and caused deep harm to our students of color. Soon after this was brought to the attention of college officials, the college put on its Instagram news feed (which can still be viewed via the website version of Instagram) both a statement condemning the video and an apology by the student who originally posted the video. The statement also communicated, “We’ll take necessary actions through Student Life.” I grieve for the negative impact this incident has had on many of our students, and especially our black students. I also want to state emphatically that racism and race-based bias incidents or behaviors have no place in our community. The students who reported the incident to the college did the right thing and their action allowed the college to take action that is consistent with the college’s values and commitments. Although student privacy and employment laws limit my ability to provide specific information related to an individual student conduct case, I do want to emphasize the college’s commitment to take seriously and effectively respond to all incidents involving racism, racial harassment, or race-based bias incidents. Even though the college responded to address this specific incident, this is also an opportunity for us to reflect on the personal circumstances and institutional systems and structures that contribute to both the occurrence and impact of incidents like this. Therefore, I have viewed this situation as both an opportunity for reflection and a call to action for myself. I realize that many students had already been asking for institutional changes prior to this incident. My intention is to neither diminish or ignore those voices, nor is it to comprehensively address those voices in the limited context of this email. Rather, I simply want to share a few action steps that have been taken as a result of my own reflections. 1. Review of Resident Assistant selection process. I’ve asked Director of Residence Life, Shannon Balram, to work with the RD team to review and modify our hiring and training practices with particular attention toward continuing to improve our processes for evaluating and developing the multicultural competencies of the RAs we select to serve in this important role. Even though Residence Life staff were not aware of the existence of this video at the time of the student’s selection to be a Resident Assistant, it is still concerning that he had been selected to be an RA for this year. The Residence Life staff have a deep commitment to cultivating a diverse community where all students have a high sense of belonging. Beginning in 2013, the department instituted changes in its recruitment and selection of staff with the specific goal of hiring staff that are both reflective of our students and who also demonstrate a commitment to anti-racism with the multicultural skills, attitudes and beliefs that are needed to lead in cultivating this type of community. However, this incident reveals we can and need to do better to achieve these goals. 2. Updated policy with clear and simple reporting process. Under the direction of VP for Student Life, Dr. Edee Schulze, the college’s harassment policy has been updated and is now titled the Bias, Harassment, and Discrimination Policy and Procedures. As part of this update, there is now a simple on-line form that can be used to report any instances of racial harassment, discrimination, or racially-based bias incidents. This incident made clear the college could better serve and support students by updating and simplifying its harassment policy and reporting options. Reporting racial harassment or discrimination incidents is a critical tool in developing a safe environment for all students, and we want to make sure all students who encounter such incidents know how they can respond and get support. The previous reporting options still exist for students who prefer to make a report directly to a report recipient listed in the policy, but this additional option will provide a clear, simple, and timely way for anyone in the community to report incidents so that the college can respond in an appropriate and effective way. The updated policy and the reporting form are currently being put on the college’s website. All students will receive an email from Dr. Schulze when the Bias, Harassment and Discrimination Policies and Procedures and the reporting form are ready for viewing. 3. Fall listening sessions with the Dean of Students. I’m committed to listening well in the year ahead. As a tangible step toward that goal, I’ve decided to host regular listening sessions throughout the school year. You can look for more details to come soon about those events, and I plan to do the first one sometime in September via Zoom. On a more personal note, even before the COVID pandemic shut campus down in mid-March, I had already been on a medical leave of absence from Westmont since mid-December 2019. As a result, I was not on campus during the early spring when a number of incidents occurred that highlighted the racial tension on campus. It wouldn’t be fair for me to speculate on what I may or may not have done had I been on campus, but I do personally mourn my absence as a lost opportunity to listen well and to lead within the scope of my responsibilities. I did read about and see pictures of the protest that occurred just prior to spring break, and I want to be clear that I see no adversaries in the protestors. Rather, I see people I care about, people I pray for and with, people I co-labor with, friends and loved ones. I see people who care so much about Westmont and want us together to do a better job of living into our high ideals and vision for a Christian higher education that is rich in diversity and equity. That is something I too am passionate about. The focus of my doctoral studies was on issues of diversity and equity in higher education. My research specifically focused on the disparity in sense of belonging between white students and students of color on Christian college campuses, and how differences in the perception of the campus racial climate and faith impacted those disparities. It is clear that Westmont, Christian higher education, and higher education in general have much work to do on these issues. I believe part of that work is listening well. While I can certainly read, research, and seek to understand the complexity of issues on my own, I don’t have the lived experience that many of you have that provides deeper, more nuanced, and even more meaningful insight. I recognize many students of color are tired and you shouldn’t have to bear the burden of teaching others. I’m not asking for that. I do hope, though, that you’ll consider participating in conversations that will equip me to better advocate and respond to your concerns. I also recognize that students in general and particularly students of color are not a monolith, and I want to provide opportunities to give voice to and listen to the range of student views and experiences at Westmont. Even though there may be disagreement regarding specific action steps that should be taken, we can all affirm the goal of working to develop a community marked by a high sense of belonging, diversity, equity, and reconciled relationships that more fully represent Kingdom values. If you’ve made it this far in my email, thanks for hanging in there. Hopefully, you’ve found at least some encouragement in what I’ve shared so far. Perhaps you have also found things to critique. You may think I’ve said too much, or not enough, or haven’t used the “right” words to say it. That’s okay. I accept this reality as being part of a community of higher learning and in the public square. In the midst of those thoughts, I also invite you to see a dean of students who cares for you and who is committed to working (admittedly imperfectly) toward a more diverse and equitable experience for all students. I look forward to the time when we will all be together again on campus, and I’m also thankful for the technology that will allow us to connect as a community until that time. You continue to be in my thoughts and prayers as we begin the adventure of this new and unprecedented school year together. In peace and grace, Stu On July 20th, 2020, Elena Yee, former Westmont Intercultural Programs Director (2000-2011), published a blog post entitled "Institutional Racism and Higher Education." Later that day, she posted the link to her Blog post on this website beneath the article on the recent Opinion pieces in the Santa Barbara Independent. In the post, Yee reflects on the current uprisings against white supremacist state violence in the current moment, their impact (and lack thereof) on higher education and on her time at Westmont College. The post can be read at her Blog or at the Internet Archive. The contents are also copied below:
Some time before Friday, July 17th 2020, President Beebe changed the name of his op-ed in the Santa Barbara Independent newspaper from "Westmont Responds to Black Issues" to "Westmont Responds to Racial Justice Criticism." As of October 14th, 2020, is unclear when exactly or why the title was changed. The article can be read at the Santa Barbara Independent Website or on this blog.
On July 15th, 2020 the Santa Barbara Independent published an Op-Ed piece by Emily Mata, Olivia Stowell and Caitlyn Wells interviewing six Black Westmont alumni and current students about their experiences at Westmont. After the Independent reached out to Westmont for Comment, President Beebe wrote a Op-Ed response. Both articles are attached below with links to the Santa Barbara Independent Website.
On July 9th, 2020 Brendan Fong posted a series of images likened to a magazine article. The post seemed to be in response to the recent comments made by President Beebe in the Q&A calls. The post was captioned: We're getting educated ✊🏻✊🏼 We know our institution should do better. We know what's possible, and we're working towards it. @westmontcollege 👀 Even when you ignore our voice, our emotions, our questions, our faith, our power, we will still make ourselves known.
On July 7th 2020, President Beebe again addressed the campus via phone q&a session. The day before more than fifty students and concerned community members organized to send the same set of questions to President Beebe's email and the q&a session email intake. The questions asked why the administration continues to silence student dissent and ignore student demands, what lasting policy changes would be made going forward and for updates on the student conduct process following Cardinalli's blackface video. No response was sent to any of the emails, furthermore President Beebe failed to address any of the questions during his q&a session.
[update 7/16/2020 Alumni are working to get the questions posed by more than 50 students and community members answered] The call did address the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) directive to deport international students if they were not attending in person classes. Vice President of Student life Dr. Edee Schulze noted that due to hybrid and in-person classes, students "from other countries are not in danger of being deported." Neither Dr. Schulze nor President Beebe condemned the move by ICE, nor offered any words of support for international students. In the public statement to KEYT news, Westmont again did not offer any words of support for international students, but did make sure to highlight that they were "the right size to respond to crisis situations and this is where our students benefit." President Beebe opened the call by highlighting his "Quaker upbringing" and noted that "Dr. Martin Luther King (sic) was a hero to Quakers." He continued, noting how Quakers funded various aspects of Dr. King's work, and praising Dr. King's faith before pivoting to "the great effort to try and understand how best to appropriate people from the past who've influenced us... I hope that as a college community we will retain a posture of continuing to learn, continuing to have, uh, a disposition to take in new information, and to change and adjust as we learn new things." He then noted that because of the "conversation," he "had opportunity to connect with an alum, (pause) that, uh, (pause) a Black alum, and I initially called him an African American which is the phrase that I used for much of my adult life. (sic)" He described how this "Black alum" prefers to be called "Black" rather than "African American" because of his ancestry. President Beebe used this "teachable moment" to underscore that he wants "the opportunity to reach out to our alums, (pause) uh, um, (pause) various backgrounds, and uh, and ethnicities, and really begin to understand both their experience at Westmont, and how we can do a better job, uh, as we move forward." After which he once again highlighted the "martyr" Dr. King, and highlighted a phrase "[Dr. King] certainly borrowed from others: ...the responsible Christian has a bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other." From this quote the president pivoted to his "own discipline and philosophy of religion" and "one of [his] own favorite thinkers Jaroslav Pelikan," a white male American scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology, and medieval intellectual history at Yale University, and his "landmark study: Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture." After plugging the book and its various depictions of Jesus, President Beebe vocally pondered: "how we [can] develop a greater capacity to listen. And part of this is developing a greater capacity to listen to the most aggrieved members of our community. And I want this to be something that, uh, we do to the best of our capacity. That we develop an empathetic orientation, uh , a really (pause,) uh um, essential (extended pause) capacity to feel what others have experienced (sic)." After this intro, the President said that "conversations are underway and will continue into the coming year to contextualize why the chapel was built and what we need to do to continue moving forward." He reminded listeners of the "tragic history" of Nancy Voskuyl, and the "wonderful history" in the design of "every piece" of the chapel, before describing that "as we have recognized some of the complexity of our contemporary moment, we wanted to make some changes, and begin the process of expanding the conversation and also expanding the repertoire of images, uhh, in the chapel (sic)." He did not confirm that the racist and colonial White Jesus will be permanently removed from the chapel and failed to mention the critical role student organizing played in creating the "conversation" and advocating for institutional change. After the update on the chapel window, President Beebe highlighted "curricular innovations" via a "revitalized and repurposed" ethnic studies minor. He said that he thinks it is a "really wonderful rekindling of something that's been at the heart of Westmont for many years." He failed to mention that the minor, after it's conception alongside the gender studies minor circa 2005, had fallen into obscurity until the spring 2019 student demands. At that time, many of the classes required for the minor were no longer offered and there were no faculty contacts listed for the ethnic studies minor in the College Catalog. He did mention that professors across the college were "thinking anew about what it means to approach their disciplines with fresh eyes, attentive ears, and curious spirits." He then highlighted the work of white theater arts Professor John Blondel, but did not make mention of the various BIPOC faculty whos course offerings have tackled issues of race and white supremacy since their hiring and were pivotal to pushing other faculty to reconsider their teaching pedagogy and revise their syllabi​. President Beebe announced a "college wide implicit-bias training." Introducing the training he said; "what I've loved about this concept is the way in which it brings to light the fact that all carry subconscious prejudice (sic), and we develop it without even realizing it." Professor Carmel Saad will lead five sessions of the training in both the fall and spring to teach "how to understand implicit bias, how to take a broader view of diversity, how to understand equity, how to be committed to inclusion, and what does it mean to develop intercultural competence." In response to questioning about the number of BIPOC faculty, President Beebe "just wanted to give a stat." He proceeded to list the number of faculty hired and their demographic breakdown. He then noted that "85% have stayed." He did not give demographic breakdowns for the number of professors who have stayed. He then stated "the fact that we have been able to diversify our faculty shows a multi-year commitment to this, as a priority, and it will continue." Continuing on he again "wanted to amplify our focus on diversity, global engagement, and intercultural competency in recruiting students." In the efforts of recruiting more diverse students and faculty he praised "our great foundation which we have been able to build upon. According to president Beebe "the diversity of the student body has been raised from a little under thirty percent, to a little under forty five percent. All of this has taken time, effort, and significant increase in scholarship and money." Even though "we still have a long way to go... we do have some important and impressive progress that we've made (sic)." After speaking to "diversity" within the student body and faculty, he once again highlighted the hiring of Blake Thomas, the interim director of Intercultural Programs. While he did highlight that Blacke is Black, he failed to mention that Blake was only hired as a one year interim after Dr. Edee Schulze's cancellation of the national search process for the upcoming Center for Diversity and Global Engagement. He also mentioned that Carol Huston, a member of the board of trustees, will be coming to campus once a week to "work on issues of diversity, global engagement, intercultural competence and as an advisor to [the president] as [he] work our way through this." He then listed off a number of Black Pastors who's video sermons he deeply appreciated and considered valuable "resources". He also reminded the callers of the previously announced partnership with David Baliey of Arrabon, and commended "the way in which he engages at a level which builds trust, and helps lower barriers of suspicion between different groups." Throughout this section of the call, President Beebe framed the college's new connections with various Black Pastors, leaders and intellectuals as "resources." The only non-black "resource" was the "highly controversial suggestions, conclusions, and observations" of Dr. Robin DiAngelo's book: White Fragility. It was also announced that "later this fall" Westmont will host a "seminar" on "how law enforcement happens in Santa Barbara County" featuring District Attorney Joyce Dudley, Chief of Police Lori Luhnow, and Sherif Bill Brown. President Beebe bade clear that he has "high regard for these three individuals" and found them "incredibly helpful... in terms of helping our community really have some of the most progressive policies in terms of how law enforcement is carried out so that we can have constructive engagement and not just.. huge concerns about the integrity and ethics of our law enforcement individuals." Before transitioning to COVID-19 related announcements and q&a, President Beebe made the following statement: "As we move forward, or before we move forward (chuckle), I really just want to emphasize again, how important this conversation is to us, that all parties, all parts of the college community are going to be involved in it. And I hope that throughout the year, that we can exercise patience and forbearance with one another, as we learn to live together with difference, learn to respect difference, but also make significant headway. On, on such a critical issue (sic)." ​ The unedited audio is attached below, and the transcript can be viewed here.
In the spring of 2019, Dr. Telford work was featured on a faculty panel discussion about the racist and colonial depiction of Jesus in the Voskuyl prayer chapel. During the panel, he explicitly stated that he does not like to be critical then proceeded to work through the entirety of the original petition letter disagreeing and refuting the vast majority of it's content. He made a habit of timing his comments to follow Dr. Deboer and Dr. Song (the two women on the panel). In response to student questioning in 2020, he authored the following article. The original PDF can be accessed at the bottom of the page or at this link.
The Chapel Window: What's Wrong?
A year ago I was invited to a panel discussion about the prayer chapel window. One of the things I said
there was, “I don’t care whether the window stays or goes. I care that it stays or goes for the right reasons.” Recently a student followed up with me, asking what I thought the right reasons were that warranted a proper response. Since the school has now decided on a plan—one I like—I’d like to offer my list. I speak only for myself here, not for the school or anyone else. What was wrong here, and what was right? It’s not right that visitors on admissions tours and newly arriving students were being perplexed or put off. Naturally, they were interpreting the window through perspectives they brought with them, which could be both diverse and different from the chapel’s original context. An interpretive plaque next to the image can help a lot, but only for those who get close enough to read it. Visitors especially can’t be expected to know Westmont history, art history, evangelical history, or the chapel’s or image’s history. Since the window is the one public visual representation of a holy figure on campus, in a central location, it becomes a focal point. It’s right that Jesus be such a focal point, since Christus primatum tenens. That reflects the heart and ground of our community, especially the donors who built a place for communal and individual devotion to Jesus Christ in memory of Nancy Voskuyl. It’s right that we heirs remember that and pass it along...
On July 7th, 2020 President Beebe penned an article in the Westmont Magazine entitled: "Addressing Racism With Fresh Eyes, Attentive Ears, and Curious Spirits. Outlining seven things Westmont is doing in response to "racism." President Beebe has never reached out to student organizers working towards racial equity and has yet to publicly recognize the list of Student Demands.
After cancelling the national search process for the ICP Director position after the departure of Jason Cha, Dr. Edee Schulze (Vice President of Student Life) announced the "Interim Director for InterCultural [sic] Programs at Westmont for this coming year;" Blake Thomas. The announcement email is attached via screenshot and text below:
At 5:12pm on June 6th, 2020, President Beebe sent an email to all faculty, all staff, all students and parents to "to share with you an update on the Voskuyl Chapel window since its relocation has recently occurred." The email failed to name the content of the stained glass window in the Chapel (White Jesus Standing on North America), gave no reason for why the window was moved this past week or where the window currently is. He also made no mention of student organizers who have been organizing for the removal of the window since January of 2019. The email announced that the President would reach out to the six Intercultural Programs Organizations (which he misidentified as "intercultural student groups") for the first time since student organizing to remove window began. [UPDATE 10/14/2020: President Beebe has not contacted intercultural programs after four months.] President Beebe also announced that further updates to "curricular and co-curricular initiatives that focus on and amplify our support for diversity and address racism and implicit bias" will be announced July 7th. The contents of the email can be seen in the screenshot below:
On June 8th, 2020 several people saw that the image of White Jesus atop North America had been removed. As of 1:17pm on 6/8/20, there has not yet been any official communication from the college to the public about it's removal. The administration has also not contacted the Office of Intercultural Programs nor student organizers. It remains unclear who authorized the removal, where the window is currently, and what the future of the prayer chapel will look like. What is known is that during the phone q&a President Beebe revealed that he had been consulting with two senior White professors: Dr. Lisa DeBoer, an Professor of Art History, and Dr. Telford Work, a Professor of Theology. Both professors were featured on the community forum hosted by faculty in the spring of 2019 after the office of student life initiallly cancelled ICP's attempt to organize a community forum featuring faculty voices. Dr. Work was a vocal critic of the Westmont White Jesus movement during the discussion and has (as of 6/18/2020) not signed the faculty/staff "Public Letter of Lament, Repentance, and Commitment." Images of the chapel without the window taken on 6/18/2020 can be viewed below: [updated 6/18/2020 Corrected "faculty forum" to "community forum"]
In the President's Q&A on 6/4/2020 President Beebe addressed various questions which had been posed via email. In the call he restates the Executive Teams commitment from it's March email to add more depictions of Jesus to the Voskuyl Prayer Chapel without removing the White Jesus at it's center. He also restated the commitment to work on curricular change with the provost. He announced that the college will be consulting with Carol Huston, a Black woman on the Board of Trustees and David Bailey of Arrabon for the next two years. Finally the President discussed the ongoing situation of Clayton Cardinallis Blackface tik tok, mistakenly calling it an Instagram video and restated the colleges commitment to privacy for Cardinalli during the student conduct process. He referred those with questions to the statement posted by the college to Instagram stories last week. The full audio from the call can be listened to below:
After the inflammatory instagram post and letter from the president, various students emailed in questions for the President's Q & A scheduled for 6/2/2020. Nancy Phinney, Director of College Communications dodged questions posed by students about Westmont's commitment to racial justice, the Instagram post, or campus racial climate. The following email is the cut and pasted response emails sent in response to students asking about Westmont's response to recent events such as the Alumni Letter, blackface video, refusal to send out the ICP letter of solidarity and support for the Black community, and Westmont's White Jesus. All emails recieved the same response regardless of questions that were asked. Before the Q & A call on 6/2/2020, the call was cancelled and then rescheduled for Thusday June 4th, 2020 citing "extreme technical difficulties." Thank you so much for your email. We hear and respect your concern and anger about the hurtful video. Student Life is taking necessary disciplinary actions, which we’re required to keep confidential. Westmont’s response was posted immediately as was the student’s apology, which remain on Instagram highlights. See them below.
We intend to have internal discussions with faculty, staff and students about the issues you raise, and we recognize the need to address your questions and concerns. We’ll share more about this as the fall semester gets closer. Please see President Beebe’s statement posted today on the website and sent in an email. As you can imagine, we’ve focused most of our efforts for the past three months on our response to COVID-19 so we could complete the semester remotely and plan ways to comply in the fall with all the protocols regarding the virus. Our work on diversity is very important and a priority. Unfortunately, responding to and caring for our community in the midst of the outbreak has delayed our response to March’s letter. We intend to have internal discussions with faculty, staff and students when we return in the fall. The purpose of the call tonight is to discuss our plans for reopening campus in the fall and following all appropriate guidelines as we’ve received many questions about this. Here is Westmont’s response and the student’s apology. Westmont Response We’re deeply disappointed and disturbed too by the recent social media post from one of our students. The content is hurtful and highly disrespectful. Westmont condemns it and racism. We’ll take necessary actions through Student Life. We’ve reached out to Clayton Cardinalli, who is taking responsibility for his actions and is deeply remorseful. Dear Westmont Community, I am very sorry. I made a video that was in very poor judgment. I know this video was wrong. This does not represent who I am. I take full responsibility for the hurt I’ve caused to so many. I feel horrible about it. I should’ve known better. I accept any disciplinary actions and will learn from this. Clayton Cardinalli Thank you for expressing your thoughts and concerns. We value your involvement in our community. Nancy L. Phinney Director of College Communications Editor, Westmont Magazine Westmont College 955 La Paz Road Santa Barbara, CA 93108-1089 805-565-6055 www.westmont.edu @WestmontNews Find us on Facebook: Westmont College Westmont College Responds to George Floyd's Murder in Instagram Post and Letter From the President6/2/2020 On June 2nd, amid mounting pressure from Faculty, Staff and Students Westmont college released two statements on the murder of George Floyd. The instagram/facebook post was intended to participate in the #blackouttuesday event. The instagram post was bombarded with comments from students and alumni calling out the college for hypocrisy and performative activism. By 6/18/2020 there were more than 186 comments on the post. By 6/18/2020 the Facebook post had also received 149 comments. Screenshots of the post and some of the comments can be seen below: The second statement came in the form of an all student, all faculty and all staff email from President Beebe. The statement can be read below. [6/18/2020 update: The statements can also be accessed at the web archive] [allstudnts] President Gayle D. Beebe and Westmont College Respond to Our National Tragedy 4:17pm 6/2/2020 Dear Westmont Community,
The killing of George Floyd last week has forced us to confront the brutal realities of a society and culture that continue to struggle with racism, hatred, bigotry and police violence. Our hearts grieve over his tragic and senseless killing along with Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and, sadly, so many others. These tragedies are all horrific reminders that hatred and evil exist and should have no place in our society or our world. As a college community, we are committed to the life and teachings of Jesus who taught us to love one another by learning to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning to live together with difference and learning to love one another is at the heart of a community committed to truth-centered attitudes and other-centered practices. As an enduring testimony to our convictions, we stand with black communities and African Americans everywhere, and we're committed to work and pray for the day when they will not live in fear or experience oppression because of their race, but can live into the hopes and dreams they carry for their lives and their communities. In his 1968 message, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the parable of the Good Samaritan. He reminds us that we’re called to take action to help those in need and to do the right thing as followers of Jesus Christ. Dr. King said, “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But...the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” Another time, Dr. King calls us to do what is right for persons of all colors, focusing not on what’s safe, or expedient or popular, but on what is right. I ask you to join me in praying for our own Westmont community as we learn to do the right things together. My deepest desire is that we love one another as Christ has loved us, and work to serve the purposes of God through the work of the college. God be with you. -- Gayle D. Beebe, Ph.D. President Westmont College 955 La Paz Road Santa Barbara, CA 93108 -- After attempts to send the open letter as an all student, faculty and staff email were blocked by the office of student life unless the letter was subject to "edits," ICP Leaders posted their open letter of support and solidarity to the ICP Instagram. The post contained the letter below and the following caption: "A letter of solidarity and support for our beloved Black students, faculty, and staff. This letter was intended to be sent out as an all student email, but sadly, in order to do so, higher positions of power in the institution required parts of it be edited - which we refuse to do. To our Black community, you are strong, powerful, resilient, and beautiful. You are loved" Dear Black Students, Faculty and Staff of Westmont College,
In response to the... Brendan Fong Addresses White Supremacist Spam of "Open Letter on Blackface Video" on Instagram6/1/2020 Early 6/1/2020, Brendan Fong took to Instagram to address white supremacist spam which had been submitted in the signature box of the Letter to Westmont Student Life Office Regarding Racist Tik Tok.
On May 1st, 2020 various faculty posted 'A Public Letter of Lament, Repentance, and Commitment' to http://www.westmontlaments.org/letter.html. The content can be read below or at THIS LINK. A Public Letter of Lament, Repentance, and CommitmentIn light of recent events related to the racial climate on our campus (including campus activism, a letter written by alumni, and a letter of apology from the President’s Executive Team), we, the undersigned members of the faculty and staff of Westmont College, publicly offer this letter of lament, repentance, and commitment. It is signed by a varied group—faculty and staff; white persons and persons of color—and it is addressed to those in our community, whether they are current students, faculty or staff, or alumni or former employees, who have found their experience on our campus to be hostile, alienating, or excluding because of racial injustice...
On June 1st 2020, Brendan Fong, Emily Mata and Caitlyn Wells send an updated list of Student Demands for institutional change to the Executive Team, President, Provost and Faculty Council. The list and letter can be read below: Dear Westmont Community, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In February 2019, hundreds of students signed a petition requesting the removal of the image of White Jesus standing on North America in the Voskuyl Prayer Chapel... |