A note about the following letter:The Letter from Concerned Gonzaga Faculty emerged from a grassroots effort among faculty who attended several of the listening sessions held over the last two weeks. On one hand, the letter alone is just another statement; on the other hand, it points toward immediate actions, and it signals an intention from a large group of faculty to hold ourselves accountable, to hold each other accountable and importantly, to hold administration accountable for long overdue institutional changes.
The signatures of support for this letter are certainly incomplete; power dynamics certainly prevented some supportive colleagues from signing this letter. Faculty without the protection of tenure, adjunct faculty and instructional staff occupy vulnerable and precarious employment positions. Some faculty work in hostile climates to this type of engagement and may fear repercussions from colleagues.
The letter circulated only among faculty in recognition of the many academic challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion that must be addressed. However, the need for change spans all corners of the University, and all employeesfaculty, staff and administrationmust work collaboratively as equal partners to create lasting change on this campus.
A letter from concerned Gonzaga Faculty...
On Nov. 8 Gonzagas Black Student Union was attackedGU was attacked. As GU faculty we are witnesses to the pain students experience semester after semester as a result of racist and homophobic attacks and exclusions. Students have voiced a loss of trust in our institution; their lack of trust is understandable. They fear this latest incident will pass unaddressed without the individual and communal care this moment requires, and that GU will move on and resume normal operations without the institutional changes that the history of these cyclical incidents demand.
Many faculty share students anger, hurt and frustration. We need swift action in the short term and serious change in the longer term. We acknowledge the messages of solidarity from GUs president, provost, head of student affairs and provost for diversity and inclusion. We also acknowledge that the institution regularly responds with important opportunities to listen to those who are hurt.
Messages of solidarity are not enough. Listening is not enough. Those strategies still have not interrupted the recurring, long-standing experiences of exclusion. In place of reactive responses, we need proactive measures and commitments.
We need stronger, clearer actions and commitments from this point forward. First, we expect the GU administration to swiftly and thoroughly address the tangible actions called for by the BSU. In addition to these student demands, we expect the administration to provide the campus with regular updates about this investigation and your findings. We want you to follow through on the support offered from the local NAACP, the alliance of independent colleges, the States political officials and Spokanes local neighborhoods.
Additionally, GU must affirm that the experiences of oppression, exclusion and pain transcend this particular hate attack; the systemic roots of these problems must be acknowledged and confronted lest these experiences continue to plague our campus community.
Without stronger action, accountability and education for every single member of our community, these problems fester. As we have already seen, what should be a holistic and collaborative space for reflective and critical thought, lifelong learning, spiritual growth, ethical discernment, creativity and innovation, has become divisive, disconnected and imperiled.
For years we have watched GU respond to racism on campus with passive, broad affirmations of diversity, equity, inclusion and our Jesuit values that do not manifest in sustained anti-racist action or community accountability. Moreover, our reluctance to expect accountability from our colleagues maintains the status quo year after year and ensures these experiences remain embedded in our culture. Therefore, we expect immediate commitments and changes grounded in proven strategies for equity and inclusion in higher education and the following unequivocal actions:
Upholding institutional expectations and values are not matters of academic freedom or personal choice; they are requirements for everyone who enjoys the privilege of working for this institution.
We expect GU administration and leadership to deliver on the things youve been tasked to do (and more). Its fundamental to who we are. Fr. Ignacio Ellacura, SJ, asked in a 1982 commencement address at Santa Clara University: What then does a university do, immersed in this reality [of oppression and injustice]? Transform it? Yes. Do everything possible so that liberty is victorious over oppression, justice over injustice, love over hate? Yes. Without this overall commitment, we would not be a university and even less so would we be a Catholic university.
Our values and mission mean little without actions that affirm them. But we as an intellectual community have the imagination and creativity together to discover the remedies to our problems (Fr. Ellacura). It is time to hold ourselves, our colleagues and the administration accountable. This institution must reaffirm our commitment to the common good and prove that it is the institution our mission promises.
The institution must act now.
Faculty Signatures (in alphabetical order)
Elizabeth Addis, Associate Professor, Biology
Jennifer W. Akins, MDLA/ELC
Kirk Anders, Professor, Biology
Alejandro Arango, Lecturer, Philosophy
Sarah Arpin, Associate Professor, Psychology
Logan Axon, Associate Professor, Mathematics
Wilson Bailey, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Betsy Bancroft, Associate Professor, Biology and Environmental Studies
Monica Banyi, Assistant Professor, Accounting
Monica Bartlett, Professor Psychology
John Beck, Professor of Economics
Diane Birginal, Senior Lecturer, Modern Languages and Literature
Kelley Bishop, Lecturer of Spanish, Department of Modern Languages and Literature
David Boose, Professor and Department Chair, Biology
Susan Boysen, Professor, Department of Nursing
Joan Braune, Lecturer, Philosophy
B. Kevin Brown, Adjunct Instructor, Religious Studies (Senior Specialist for Faculty and Staff Formation, Mission and Ministry)
Angela Bruns, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Criminology
Rebecca Bull Schaefer, Associate Professor of MGMT, SBA
Paul Buller, School of Business Administration
Bernadette Marie Calafell, Professor and Department Chair, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Richard Callahan, Lecturer, Religious Studies
Anny Case, Ph.D., Department of Teacher Education
Ann Ciasullo, Professor and Chair, English Department
Meagan Ciesla, Associate Professor, English
Emily Clark, Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Melissa Click, Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Dennis Arthur Conners, Assoc. Prof. Organizational Leadership
John Correia, Assistant Professor of MIS, School of Business Administration
Heather Crandall, Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Shannen Cravens (Khare), Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Matthew Cremeens, Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Carolyn Cunningham, Associate Professor, Communication and Leadership Studies
E. Cassandra Dame-Griff, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES)
Monique De Nysschen, DNP, Nursing Department
Jake Deckert, Lecturer, HPHY
Cathy DeHart, Lecturer of Accounting
Mike DeLand, Assistant Professor Sociology & Criminology
Sara Diaz, Associate Professor, Women's and Gender Studies
Laura A Diaz-Martinez, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Jeffrey Dodd, Assistant Professor, English
Shannon Dunn, Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Heather Easterling, Professor, English Department
Susan Edwards, MSN, RN, CHSE, Resource and Simulation Center Director Department of Nursing
Shauna Ellefson, MSN, ARNP, FNP - School of Nursing and Human Physiology
David Fague, Senior Lecturer, Music Department
Todd A. Finkle, Pigott Professor of Entrepreneurship
Tim Fitzgerald, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Chris Francovich, Associate Professor, DPLS
Luis Garcia-Torvisco, Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literature
Suzann Girtz, Ph.D., Professor, Teacher Education
Jeremy Gordon, Communication Studies
Jamella Gow, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology
Vikas Gumbhir, Associate Professor, Sociology and Criminology
Torunn Haaland, Associate Professor of Italian, Chair of International Studies
Jessica Halliday, Senior Lecturer, English
Peter Hamlin, Associate Professor, Music
Joey Haydock, Associate Professor, Biology
Stephen G. Hayes, Assistant Professor, Biology
William A Hayes, Assoc Prof & Chair, Sociology & Criminology
Scott Hedin, Asst. Prof., Business
Kevin Henrickson, Professor, Economics
Heath Herrick, Senior Lecturer, English
Ryan Herzog, Associate Professor of Economics
Matthew Hoag, Coordinator of Accounting and Associate Professor of Accounting
Maria Howard, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Melinda Howard, Lecturer, Biology
James Hunter, Associate Professor, English Language Center / Teacher Education
Christina Isabelli, Professor and Department Chair, Modern Languages and Literature
Erica Johnson, Professor, Economics
Joe Johnston, Assistant Professor, Sociology & Criminology
Yu-Kyung Kang, Assistant Professor, English Department
Sara Kern, Professor, School of Business Administration
Harman Khare, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Carol Kottwitz, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Human Physiology
Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks, Professor of Psychology and University Core Director
Jillian LaBelle, Lecturer of Accounting, School of Business Administration
Charles Lassiter, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Inga N. Laurent, Professor, Law
Kathleen Leamy, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Sou Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology
Adriane Leithauser, Lecturer of Business Ethics, School of Business Administration
Emily Loeffler, Instructor, Music
Peggy Sue Loroz, Professor of Marketing, School of Business Administration
Read the original here:
Letter to the Editor: Letter from 154 concerned Gonzaga faculty - Bulletin