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:
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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... |