By Abagail Chartier
Students upset about a letter written by four faculty members about efforts to make course content more diverse and inclusive voiced their concerns at a nearly 2 ½ hour Zoom meeting Sunday night.
The Office of Intercultural Affairs with the Institutional Diversity Action Committee (IDAC) held the Zoom meeting for students after the letter, sent to the administration and faculty, was leaked and posted on social media.
The letter, addressed and sent on September 2 to College President John Denning and the two deans, appeared to have been initially posted to Instagram Thursday then widely circulated on social media on Friday.
The meeting was held for two reasons: The misspelling of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery’s names in a campus-wide email as well as a letter that was leaked over social media on October 8 that soon spread by October 9 on the Instagram account @stickittothesystem.
@stickittothesystem is run by three Stonehill students, who obtained the letter. It was then was reposted on Twitter and Facebook.
The letter, authored by Professors Richard Capobiaco, Matthew Greene, John Rodrigue, and Gregory Shaw, was addressed to President Father John Dennings, Dean Peter Ubertaccio, and Dean Debora Salvucci. It was later sent via email to all faculty members.
The two-page letter has a few select phrases within that have caused outrage among some students and alumni, one of which being where the professors say they are “...concerned that the call for racial and ethnic diversity in the curriculum will limit academic freedom, the autonomy of the professoriate in the classroom, and Stonehill’s own traditions as a Catholic institution with an emphasis on the liberal arts.”
The four professors who signed the letter said they support diversity efforts by the College and want there to be more discussion on how to achieve it.
In response to the social media outcry, the Office of Intercultural Affairs and the student representatives of the Institutional Diversity Action Committee put together a Zoom conference called Students in Action which all current students were invited to register for. The four professors were not invited to the meeting.
Tahj Valentine, Sayvion Jones, and Glendy Alvarez reached out to Director of Intercultural Affairs, Latesha Fussell, after Valentine saw the letter on social media and grew concerned about the growing student outcry. Fussell said the Zoom session was held to cultivate a place where students could share how these two cases caused harm, anxiety, stress, frustration, and a distraction from academic success.
When asked about where they were thinking of going next in terms of action, they were unclear.
“We’re still working it out,” Alvarez said, noting a series of things must be done before plans are solidified. IDAC is, however, looking to do some form of event next week or the following.
In the meantime, if students are looking to learn more about diversity and injustice, Fussell suggested signing up for One H.I.L.L. (Hope, Inspire, Listen, Lead) which holds online informative Zoom meetings every other Sunday. Alvarez and Jones suggested Whites Becoming Allies for students who wanted to learn more about how they can help and act.
Nearly 100 students attended the meeting Sunday, both to listen to their fellow students and share their own feelings and experiences. Thirty students spoke during the meeting.
Claire Thomas, a junior Biochemistry major, wrote a letter read by Glendy Alvarez at the meeting. She was concerned about a separate email sent to the student body where historic information about the holiday Juneteenth was incorrect. The email also misspelled the names of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. The College sent another email soon after correcting the error.
“Regarding the misspelled names and incorrect history: I am aware that this was not intentional on the part of the email's senders. However, these mistakes showed a lack of respect towards the deaths of Taylor and Arbery and towards the Juneteenth holiday. It seemed as whoever wrote the message did not care to take the time to check both the spelling of the names and the history provided. I appreciate the school's apology for these errors; however, the college needs to be aware of the implications that these errors conveyed to the community.”
Some students at the meeting said they want something done. “I want change. This Zoom meeting is not enough for me,” said Ana Alcantera, a member of the Class of 2021 and an international student from Brazil. “This is not talk that we’re having anymore, this is action,” said Lexi Thomas, a junior Finance major who identifies as a black woman.
Some students urged calm and caution in making allegations. “We need to be really careful when we call these professors racist and demand that they be fired,” Daniel Sammaco, a sophomore majoring in Finance, said. "If the student body wants to see change, it will need to consider the opinions of all those involved instead of trying to silence them. Their voices need to be heard as well." Other students said the letter was disheartening. “It’s not a surprise, but it’s a disappointment,” Nana Amoh, a senior majoring in Finance said. Amoh also called for change starting with the student body. Fredi DeGuglielmo, a member of the class of 2022 and a member of the Ojibwe, expressed displeasure at the administration, saying she did not feel as though they were taking any active steps to do anything about the lack of diversity. “There continues to not be a lot of Native American representation.”
Over the weekend, a number of alums weighed in about the professors’ letter and diversity on campus. “The rhetorical implications of your letter are racist at worst, and slightly less racist at best. For an anti-racist standard on campus NEEDS to be the norm in order to foster an environment that is built to support and benefit ALL members of campus,” wrote alum Pierrce Holmes, the class speaker from the Class of 2019, in an open letter to the four professors which was posted across social media platforms.
Another alum, Ben Rajadurai, expressed support for the professors in a series of Twitter posts (@brajadurai) over the weekend. “Professor Capobianco and Professor Shaw are some of the most tolerant and decent people on Stonehill’s campus,” he wrote.
“Would love to see complaining students engage with the two of them instead of trying to get them fired like petulant children,” he wrote in a tweet.
When asked about the original intent of the letter, the four professors who signed the letter gave the following joint statement: “As Fr. John put it, we fully support Stonehill's commitment to racial justice and to greater racial diversity at Stonehill. We wrote because we were concerned about some of the criticisms that had been made against the College, especially with regard to the curriculum. We felt that more faculty voices needed to be heard from before we move forward with the solutions proposed."
“That's it. Our support for diversity at Stonehill was made clear in the letter. We simply wanted a richer discussion of how best to achieve it than had been allowed.”
Professor Capobianco gave an additional statement via email, saying, “we were simply asking questions and seeking further discussion about the means of implementation--which have not been discussed campus-wide. And asking questions and seeking further discussion with everyone involved is at the heart of a college campus community!"
Professor Rodrigue, in an email, said: “Part of the problem is that our letter was in response to several pronouncements that have been made over the past several months by various campus groups. In that sense, it was part of a larger conversation. Many persons who have read our letter--which was originally addressed to the senior administration but then was sent to the Faculty Senate and the full-time faculty--have not read these documents to which we were responding, and with which faculty would have been familiar."
“Here is just one example of our concerns. One objective in the 2018-2020 Institutional Diversity Action Committee (IDAC) Plan Brief (Pillar III, Initiative 8) states: "Faculty will review and revise introductory and general education courses so that they engage students in topics of race, privilege, social justice, and multiple cultural perspectives in the various disciplines." While it is not entirely clear whether the committee means "all" such courses, such a policy could potentially result in faculty members who have received no graduate-level training in matters relating to race teaching these topics. We believe this could do a disservice to our students. It is why there needs to be more discussion to find the best way to implement this objective, which we support.”
To read the letter written to the College, click here.