{"id":3896,"date":"2018-09-20T14:58:28","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T14:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.centre.edu\/cento\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2018-09-20T14:58:28","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T14:58:28","slug":"president-roushs-open-letter-and-post-sit-in-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2018\/09\/20\/president-roushs-open-letter-and-post-sit-in-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"President Roush\u2019s Open Letter and Post-Sit In Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last May, students marched into Old Centre carrying with them a list of demands regarding issues of inclusion on campus. Hundreds of students protested in the historic building for over three days until nearly all the demands were met.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various changes were made to college policies in an attempt to \u201cprovide more intentional next steps in creating an inclusive environment,\u201d with the hopes of improving the \u201ccompassionate, understanding, and kind community that Centre College aims to be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the successes of the sit in, however, some felt as though the protest was not reflective of the Centre College culture.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an open letter to the college community, President Roush stated that though \u201csome number of our community members participated in [the sit in], a larger number did not, and there are some who believe that the May 2-4 conversations did not represent their views or their estimation of how the College should conduct itself going forward.\u201d In addition to this claim, Roush reminded students that \u201ccommunity members should understand that their participation in demonstrations, marches, and occupations that disrupt the College\u2019s normal operation and policies will be subject to measured and appropriate consequences that are spelled out in the College\u2019s Conduct Code.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Roush defended his letter by saying that there were aspects of the sit in that were not consistent with this college\u2019s culture. He clarified, though, that by \u201cculture\u201d he does not mean status quo. Roush stated that he is not opposed to change, but believes that whatever change is made must be supported by the core values of this institution: \u201ckindness, forgiveness, a willingness to encounter another idea or opinion and not get angry about it, the common good – things that treat people in a fair and honest way, that allow for difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sit in, he explained, \u201cwas opposite that. It was drawing a line in the sand over issues – some of which were being addressed, some of which had already been addressed – that the students didn\u2019t necessarily know all about.\u201d For President Roush, organizing and marching is not a problem, but \u201cbeing disruptive crossed a line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To many of those involved in the sit in, this was not understood as an appropriate response. Many claim that the sit in\u2019s necessity was exacerbated by a lack of communication on these issues. \u201cThere was a lack of transparency,\u201d said Benjamin Collado, a participant in the sit in. Collado also happens to be one of the Co-Vice Presidents of Centre\u2019s Diversity Student Union, although he wishes for it to be clear that the views expressed in this piece are his own and not indicative of DSU at large.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter itself was \u201ctone deaf,\u201d Collado continued. Collado doesn\u2019t believe it was \u201cill-intentioned,\u201d simply \u201cunaware of the campus atmosphere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Roush, however, claims to have a deep understanding of the wider response to the sit in. \u201cSupport for the sit in,\u201d he explained, \u201cwas not clearly the majority.\u201d And of those who participated, he continued, \u201cmany weren\u2019t devoted, they just wanted to be supportive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are fair criticisms to be made,\u201d Collado added, but these revolve around \u201cincluding allies\u201d who should have been \u201cinvolved throughout;\u201d \u201cthere is a disconnect\u201d between Roush and students as to what these criticisms should be.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An organizer of the protest, who wishes to remain unnamed, responded to this by saying, \u201cI can\u2019t say if there is an overwhelming majority or what that overwhelming majority would be.\u201d Instead, they wish to remind the campus that the goal moving forward is \u201chealing as a campus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, President Roush shared this sentiment. \u201cOur College community has some healing to do,\u201d he wrote. He expanded on this, saying that he has decided to \u201cmake something good out of it – good for all of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the larger issue associated with the letter – at least in the eye of the anonymous student – was that the letter itself disrupted the process of healing. \u201cThe letter made me feel less optimistic,\u201d said the student. \u201cIt was punitive, condescending. A negative outlook has the potential to close doors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, to Ben and the other student- despite some doors that are closed between student groups, due to missteps in the process – members of the college administration have already made some good out of the sit in. \u201cP Roush and the administration are trying,\u201d the student stated.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they want to be clear that students drove this change. \u201cFor years now,\u201d the student explained, \u201cconversations, dialogues have been happening. But nothing was done.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Roush stated that he is willing to \u201caccept a part of the responsibility\u201d for the students feeling as though the sit in was necessary, due to a failure to maintain comfortability when discussing these issues with him directly. But he also believes that \u201cstudents did not fully utilize the opportunities available to them\u201d before deciding to stage the sit in.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sit in has opened doors, according to the student; it has \u201creminded students that this campus is here for us.\u201d If there is doubt in this regard, the student encourages others to look back to the open letter and read the work plan. \u201cBecause frankly,\u201d they explained, \u201ca lot of good work has been done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Roush agrees. \u201cThere\u2019s no guarantee, but I think we\u2019re doing what\u2019s right. I think we\u2019re doing what makes us a better and stronger institution for all of the students that we serve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regards to this substantial progress, the student believes that a conversation about the open letter is necessary, but that conversations with and about President Roush \u201care not the priorities\u201d at this point. According to the student, there are other administrative offices that have proven their receptiveness, and therefore there are \u201cmore productive conversations\u201d to have before focusing to strongly on President Roush and this letter. \u201cIt\u2019s not him that\u2019s doing the day-to-day work,\u201d they said – if students want to continue creating change, says the organizer, then they should go to the offices that are doing good work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an attempt to utilize this coverage to benefit these conversations, here is a list of offices that deal directly with elements of the post-sit in work plan:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President of Human Resources and Administrative Services.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President for Legal Affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Planning Officer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director and Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion Programming.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

…among others.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is worth noting that the individuals quoted in this article are not the only parties with relevant perspectives. Many concerns are shared among students, faculty, and staff. Many other affinity groups on campus have equally as nuanced views of the sit in. In this regard, this article is not representative of every opinion on the sit in in general nor the open letter in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a conversation that will only expand to include more perspectives. \u201cThis shouldn\u2019t be something that prevents us from moving forward,\u201d said the organizer. \u201cNo one knows the best way forward,\u201d they added, and therefore the appropriate next steps are to continue necessary dialogues so that all members of the Centre community are heard and may contribute to the healing process.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Last May, students marched into Old Centre carrying with them a list of demands regarding issues of inclusion on campus. Hundreds of students protested in the historic building for over three days until nearly all the demands were met. Various changes were made to college policies in an attempt to \u201cprovide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}