Nov. 4, 2016
Dear College of Wooster Community:
As the elected members to the Faculty Conference Committee with Trustees, we wish to publicly add our voices to those condemning recent comments by a member of the Board of Trustees. In a discussion with students about the need for a more diverse faculty, the board member asked, “Do you want a good professor or a black professor?” We were stunned to hear this question had been posed; moreover, we emphatically rejected its implications. And while the board member’s apology was most welcome, we—like many others on campus—were troubled at how long it took to arrive.
We also recognize, however, that this disturbing comment is emblematic of persistent, underlying issues of racial and cultural insensitivity in our community. Of course, The College of Wooster is not unique in this regard, but rather a microcosm of the larger society in which it is situated. It is also true that many institutions of higher education likewise struggle with issues related to diversity, but we cannot allow that fact to justify complacency. The College of Wooster’s mission calls us to do better than that, to be better than that.
To Our Faculty Colleagues of Color: Please know that we support you, as do the countless faculty colleagues with whom we have conversed about this issue. Beyond the excellence in teaching and research that you bring to Wooster, we also want to acknowledge the inestimable and often undervalued hours you spend in service and in mentoring on this campus. We are saddened at the deep pain this recent incident has caused, but stand ready to work on efforts that can foster a campus environment more supportive of diversity and of you. We also recognize that the actions of some of us may have contributed to the daily slights that you have felt at Wooster and, if that is the case, we apologize and also pledge to educate ourselves in order to avoid repeating such mistakes.
To Our Board of Trustees: The Board of Trustees exerts a strong influence on campus culture, which is why the recent comment by a Board member was especially harmful and served to undermine the good work on diversity that has been and is underway at Wooster. Just as faculty, staff, and students engaged in the liberal arts need to remain self-reflective, it is important that Board members do so, as well. We are therefore heartened by your own commitment to engage in cultural competency training at your next Board meeting, as well as steps that you have taken to begin to diversify Board membership—steps that we hope will continue so that diversity is both present and supported within all College of Wooster constituencies, including the Board itself. Furthermore, we greatly appreciate the Board’s establishment of the Reggie Williams-Dale Perry Fund for fostering a more diverse faculty and staff. Based on our prior interactions with individual trustees, we know that both experience and sentiment for supporting diversity exist on the Board. We look forward to continuing discussions with you on this issue and to helping move diversity and cultural competency initiatives forward in our official roles on the Joint Committee on Conference.
To President Bolton and the Administration: The announcement, on November 2, that the College will collaborate with the Consortium for Faculty Diversity to bring three post-doctoral fellows to campus next year was welcome news. Equally important, as President Bolton has noted, is helping Wooster create a campus environment that supports and retains diverse faculty and staff members once they arrive, as well as continuing to integrate diversity into our strategic planning and priorities. The effort ahead will demand thinking innovatively, marshalling resources creatively, and both communicating and collaborating with all of the campus’s constituencies. In the work ahead, we stand ready to help.
To Our White Faculty Colleagues: While this recent event has shocked our campus, it also should prompt sober self-reflection. Wooster says that diversity and inclusivity are two of its core values, but are those of us who are majority faculty members really doing everything we can to help those values flourish in our classrooms and in our departments? Do we even recognize the ways in which our comments and actions impact faculty, staff, and students of color? The Board of Trustees has committed itself to cultural competency training, and we likewise urge our white faculty colleagues to be open to such opportunities, to exhibit a willingness to engage in the difficult conversations they often entail, and to listen carefully to what our students and colleagues share about their experiences at Wooster. We owe it to our faculty and staff colleagues of color to do so, we owe it to our students, and we owe it to ourselves.
To Our Staff Colleagues: No effort to enhance support for diversity on campus can succeed without you. The relationships that you establish with students play crucial roles in their happiness and their success. Moreover, staff members of color, like faculty members of color, often perform extensive amounts of undervalued work in mentoring and service. We appreciate both your creativity and your energy, and look forward to staff-faculty partnerships that can move our campus forward.
To Our Students: As a liberal arts institution, Wooster upholds the ideal of civic and social responsibility. No better demonstration of that ideal could be found than in the actions of students who advocated for faculty diversity with Board members on the Student Development Committee and who engaged in respectful protest at the Board meeting. We commend you for your efforts. In the work ahead, we hope the Board, administration, faculty, and staff will collaborate to create the kind of diverse environment that you deserve. We also encourage students to continue to take an active role in these important efforts and to keep us honest.
To Our Alumni: For some alumni, news of the recent controversy may be shocking, while for other alumni it is undoubtedly a sad reminder of hurtful encounters experienced here on campus or elsewhere. The College of Wooster has an obligation not only to espouse diversity, but also to practice and nurture it. As faculty members, we pledge that we will do what we can to make you proud of your alma mater on this issue. We hope you will engage in efforts to help as we work to increase the diversity and inclusivity of our faculty moving forward.
Certainly no one is happy that this incident happened, particularly because of the deep hurt it caused, but crises often present opportunities, as well. As members of the Faculty Conference Committee, we urge the Wooster community to take the impetus from this event to work together for meaningful change. Increasing faculty-staff diversity and creating an environment in which that diversity can thrive is a task that will demand leadership from all of us. And while the work of helping The College of Wooster—with all of its strengths and all of its imperfections—live up to its ideals will not come easily, it never has. Let us roll up our sleeves and begin.
The Faculty Conference Committee With Trustees
Denise Bostdorff, Chair (Communication Dept.)
Harry Gamble (French and Francophone Studies Dept.)
Amber Garcia (Psychology Dept.)
Matt Mariola (Environmental Studies Program)
Ibra Sene (History Dept.)
Laura Sirot (Biology Dept.)