In a community letter, I let our students, faculty and staff know that Union is an institution committed to being a safe haven for all – but especially our most vulnerable communities. And as an institution committed to academic freedom for deeply moral and spiritual reasons, we never silence voices of protest. We value these voices, even at times when that protest is against us.
Most importantly, I reminded our students that the aggressive police action being taken on other campuses across the country will not be taken here. As their president, I have their back.
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Whatever our differences, I firmly believe campuses must be places for lively, rigorous debate, where we struggle collectively to find better ways to live together on this planet, and where students have the chance to find and strengthen their voices. Education is to experience the power of collective action, to become a passionate, engaged citizen. These precious values do not flourish when protests are squashed. Democracy itself cannot flourish.
With the events that unfolded at Columbia last Thursday, we are seeing encampments of peaceful student protestors rise up on campuses across the country. While university leaders are under tremendous pressure to respond with full force, I hope this tide of intolerance can be turned towards our highest values – including a commitment to freedom of speech. Campuses should be spaces where we learn to build a better world, not a more destructive one.
In these precarious times, it is all the more important that these values be upheld. Please join us in the struggle to manifest these values. That, at its core, is what it means to be true educators.
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