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
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