believe this is my first letter to the Editor of the Etownian. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my 25 years at Elizabethtown College, so I’ve had to offer many apologies, but this is my first to the community as a whole.
Last week, at our Executive Council meeting, I discovered that there have been over 15 threats and otherwise despicable acts against minority students here in the past two months. I was shocked and outraged. I slammed my fist on the table and said the administration should’ve closed the campus after the first such attack (it is an “attack,” not an “incident,” just ask a victim) and convened the entire community in an effort to find the perpetrator! I stand by that statement, so I was very upset when I realized that, in fact, I was being hypocritical.
Some weeks earlier, in a casual conversation with “Alice” about “Bob” missing class, “Alice” mentioned that “Bob” was having other problems (“Alice” and “Bob” are not their real names, of course). In fact, “Bob” had been involved in violations X, Y and Z on campus. “Ah, so ‘Bob’ missing my class is the least of his worries,” I responded. I thanked “Alice” for informing me about “Bob’s” behavioral problems and thought no more of it. Therein resides my mistake because one of the violations “Alice” claimed “Bob” had committed was “writing racial slurs on someone’s personal whiteboard in the dorms.” Thus, when I “thought no more of it,” I had tacitly classified an egregious act with more mundane violations, such as “destruction of college property.” College property can be restored and the perpetrator can be redeemed and returned to the community. People subject to racial slurs, threats and other acts of intimidation and abuse will never be the same. You can’t “fix” that damage. And the perpetrator cannot be returned to the community.
Thus, there is a huge difference between violations such as destruction of college property and a bias-related attack. I don’t know why no red flags were raised or alarms sounded when I talked to “Alice.” Perhaps my colleagues in psychology can answer that, but there should’ve been. I should’ve immediately arranged a meeting between “Alice” and Dean Calenda. If I had done so, perhaps many of the subsequent attacks could have been prevented. Embarrassment over my hypocrisy is nothing compared to the sadness I feel knowing I might have prevented some of these heinous acts. So, I am truly sorry and apologize to the community.
Someone recently said that the number of such attacks on our campus is not unusual when compared to colleges nationally. Dr. Jeff Long, President of the Faculty, responded (paraphrasing), “While the number of such attacks here may fall within the national norm, any such attack falls outside our norm. In fact, if we’re looking for what makes Etown College distinctive, shouldn’t we be able to tout civility stemming from compassion? As an academic community we argue, critique and debate among ourselves as required by our mission. But, we argue without animosity, critique without contempt and debate without disrespect.” He’s right, of course. Many students chose Etown over academically comparable institutions precisely because they feel comfortable here. If we don’t stop bias-related attacks, we are destroying the most important quality of the community. Therefore, I implore others in the community not to repeat my mistake. If you’ve heard something about these bias-related attacks, please share it with Dean Calenda. It’s not too late to act.
