As stated in “Reevaluating academic freedom” by Editor-in-Chief Sangjun Hornewer ’20, below is the student document in its entirety:
To the Board of Trustees, the President, the Deans and Directors, and all senior administration of Lake Forest College,
We, a collection of equity-minded student leaders, stand in solidarity with the students of color at Lake Forest College, as well as those organizing similar initiatives for complete equity at educational institutions across the nation. We write to you to voice our grievance and disappointment concerning the College Administration’s reaction to what is described as follows:
“In a class session last week, as some of you may know, a text section from a novel that included an offensive, racist term was read aloud. Several students felt unprepared to encounter the offensive term, and felt insulted and injured to hear it in class.”
The email that was sent by the College’s President, Stephen Schutt, goes on to present two responses; a discussion held by The Office of Faculty Development and the reintroduction of the Intercultural Advisory Group. We find this passive response from the College to be inadequate in understanding of the core problem at hand, and as such reluctant to make an efficient and timely change that ensures that such a shameful occurrence never happens again.
The aforementioned incident highlights one of many past occurrences where the College has demonstrated a lack of initiative in addressing systematic racial and cultural issues. The student handbook prohibits and protects students from abusive language, however due to the theme of academic freedom, the faculty handbook does not include the same protection measures stating the following instead:
“The fact that speech or a particular expression is offensive is not, standing alone, a sufficient basis to establish a violation of this policy. To constitute a violation of this policy, speech or expression taking place in the teaching context must be severe or persistent, not germane to the subject matter, and must impair or impede the College’s educational mission or be used to disguise, or as a vehicle for, prohibited misconduct.”
This essentially protects and allows faculty to use derogatory terms in classrooms with the excuse of there being an educational value. However, we pose to you the following question, to what extent should students be made uncomfortable, and for who’s educational benefit? And more so, who exactly are we making uncomfortable in these classrooms?
Students of color are, and have been historically, under-represented, ignored and abused within academia. Students of color nationally have and are continuing to reclaim their space and their power at their respective educational institutions – we, the student leaders of Lake Forest College, will follow suit. The following is a list of demands, drafted by a diverse group of students, with the intention of remaining intersectional in our construction of revolutionary change.
Initial Goals & Objectives
· Protection from offensive language pertaining to race for faculty and students in the Faculty Handbook
· Growth and increased support of the Office of Intercultural Relations such as increasing staff to mirror student demand and relocating the office to a wheelchair accessible space.
· Employment of diverse faculty and administrators reflecting campus and national populations. Transparency of ongoing efforts to recruit diverse faculty and administrators and obstacles encountered.
· Ongoing and semesterly diversity training for students, faculty and staff pertaining to and reflecting contemporary systematic inequalities; including required BIAS Assessments approved by the IAG for the 2019-2020 and following academic years.
· Inclusion of students in problem solving
· College feedback and reporting on benchmarks, results, and action plans from faculty discussions and workshops, especially after campus-wide bias incidents.
· Creation of curriculum for historic and contemporary Latinx, Middle Eastern, African and Indigenous studies.
· Periodic assessments of professors ensuring professors are up-to-date with material they are teaching.
· Reassessment of campus responses and sanctions for students and faculty who commit biased incidents; including assessing the effectiveness of current educational approaches.
· Bi-weekly publication of bias incidents and resolutions while protecting the identity of those involved to increase campus awareness and accountability.
· Disclaimers for courses with sensitive content including the justification of educational value.
The demands listed above are by no means exhaustive nor final, but a set of goals to guide administrative action to address inequalities in Lake Forest College.
We request that you respond to this communiqué by Wednesday, April 24th, 2019.
Submitted Respectfully,
Kotch Mmopi – Business Major, Computer Science & French Minors (UMOJA President, Visual Communications, OIR, First Connection Mentor, Forester First Mentor)
Rodrigo Sanchez – Chemistry Major, Psychology Minor (Latinos Unidos Co-President, Deerpath Hall Resident Assistant, Chemistry Lab Assistant, Former Intercultural Advisory Group Member, Gladen Research Lab)
Ayesha Quraishi – Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and International Relations Majors
(Senior 25, Oppenheimer Awardee, Lincoln Laureate, First Connection Coordinator, Future Health Professionals, OIR)
Naomi Morales – Economics & International Relations Majors (International Student Organization President, OIR, First Connection Mentor, Mail Room)
Taylor R. Jackson – Business & International Relations Majors (United Black Association Secretary, Net Impact Lake Forest Chapter Secretary)
Jordan Moran – Secondary Education and Math Majors (Black Men’s Group, First Connection Mentor, Men’s Basketball Captain, United Black Association, Student Ambassador)
Annie Keller – Psychology, Neuroscience, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (PRIDE Public Relations Officer, Rainbow Network Facilitator, Ambassador Vice President, Psychology Student Academic Advisory Committee, K-Lab Research Assistant, TRL Lab Research Assistant)
Ellen Kazembe – Economics & Politics Majors (Davis UWC Scholar, The Stentor Editor, SWAN President, Resident Assistant, National Residence Hall Honorary)
Zora Pullen – Biology Pre-Physical Therapy Major
(Pride President, First Connection Mentor, Rainbow Network, Rugby)
KeAnthony Thompson – Studio Art Major, Digital Design Minor (United Black Association President, Studio Art SAAC Representative, First Connection Mentor, Studio Art Peer Teacher)
Peter Simmeth – Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major, Masters of Arts in Teaching Candidate (PRIDE treasurer, SAACS treasurer, Resident Assistant McClure Hall)
Che Raoul – Business Major, Philosophy Minors (Delta Chi President, SPB Director of Photography)
Chris Edomwande – Biology & History Major (Biology SAAC, Biology Peer Teacher, Barbosa Research Lab, 2018-2019 Football Captain, Phi Beta Sigma President)
Nombuso Dlamini – Economics Major, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Minor (UMOJA Vice President, Career Advancement Center Student Ambassador)
Deja McClellan – African American Studies Major, Communication Minor (United Black Association Vice President, Law and Public Service Pathway Leadership Team Member, Diversity and Inclusion Summit Committee Member, Winter Gala Committee Member, and the Leadership Awards Selection Committee Member)
Guadalupe Ornelas –Sociology and Anthropology Major (Latino Unidos Co-President, Administrative Assistant: Education, Theater, & Religion departments)
