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 --
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