The DCI and the Commitment to Freedom of Expression Perspectives

Iwould like to respond to the recent “The DCI Threatens Diversity and Justice Efforts” Perspectives piece by providing, for the first time, background on our attempts to have Chloe and Halle Bailey visit Davidson College during the spring of 2022. The duo, signed by Beyonce’s management company, are my nieces. I knew enough about their schedules to know there was a small window of opportunity to get them here as part of our “Freedom of Expression Week.”

They were not being recruited to perform, but to give students insight into how to express themselves in the face of criticism. For instance, they had to decide to either join other black artists who were boycotting the Super Bowl in Atlanta in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, or sing before the game as planned. To make either choice would be to disappoint some in their fanbase, as well as others. Chloe has had to navigate the intense scrutiny that comes with becoming a woman on her own terms after being in the spotlight for several years as a girl. While Halle’s role in The Little Mermaid has come with great fanfare, it sparked a racist backlash. Some suggest Disney should not have cast a black woman lead.

Of course I am biased – I am a proud uncle – but there is little doubt they have a lot to offer college-age students (and others) struggling to find and own their voice in an often-confusing and unkind world. That is why we pursued them. But there were serious logistical hurdles. COVID-19 had worn out faculty, staff and students. And it would have meant a significant investment, the kind the college has only made a handful of times for high-profile speakers. Chloe and Halle rub shoulders with Beyonce and Jay-Z and the Obamas, and have been up on the Grammy’s and Oscars. They have earned that status.

A campus-wide survey showed a high percentage of Davidson students often self-silence for fear of peer reactions, as well as a need to “look smart,” which makes it less likely they will take risks and challenge themselves, and others, hampering their own educational pursuits. The greatest breakthroughs in a variety of fields are often the result of people willing to be wrong in public, to push against boundaries, to help us all see the world anew. That is less likely to happen if never upsetting peers becomes a priority for students. Chloe and Halle would not be successful had my brother Doug and sister-in-law Courtney not risked pushing their daughters beyond what we had known and experienced while growing up in South Carolina, or if Chloe and Halle self-silenced rather than pushing themselves through uncertainty.

There was another reason, mostly unspoken, that made nailing down their appearance difficult. It was clear some people were unconvinced that two young black women entertainers were the right fit to be the main draw at a free speech, freedom of expression and academic event. They believed First Amendment lawyers, maybe a few high-profile journalists and the like, made more sense. I strongly disagreed. You know who else disagreed? James Martin.

Martin is a Davidson alumnus. He is a former faculty member. He was governor of North Carolina. And he is a member of the much-discussed Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse. He was on board with the plan almost immediately because his goal really is about fostering a robust exchange of ideas on campus, a bedrock of any institution of higher learning whose primary goal is academic excellence.

I know this because I headed up the group that produced, at then-President Carol Quillen’s request, the “Commitment to Freedom of Expression” statement that was recently affirmed by Davidson’s faculty and Board of Trustees. That group included Political Science Professor Susan Roberts, Trustee Beadsie Woo, students Jared Herr and Varun Maheshwari, and Martin. The author of “The DCI Threatens Diversity and Justice Efforts” Perspectives piece suggested DFTD produced that statement. That is not true. Our group did.

I will not speak for other members of our group, but I can speak for myself. I would not have been involved in such an undertaking if it would bring harm to vulnerable students. I was once one of those students, a black student from a rundown segregated high school with a severe stutter sitting in the back row of a Chambers classroom surrounded by white students and a white professor. I know how difficult it is to be in such settings. I have not forgotten. I cannot forget. It informs my teaching and writing to this day. It is also why I know efforts like the statement, and what the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative does, which came under heavy criticism in that piece, is vital to Davidson’s overall mission and among the best ways to ensure the progress we have made on diversity, inclusion and equity are neither squandered nor rolled back. DCI also quickly partnered with us for Freedom of Expression Week and was onboard with bringing in Halle and Chloe, something that did not happen because it took a bit longer than we would have liked to nail down the finances and logistics.

That does not mean I do not disagree with Martin on a variety of issues, because I do. Neither do I mind saying I have vehement – passionate and deep-seated – disagreements with DFTD. Though Martin is not, some of their members are hostile to diversity and inclusion efforts. I have heard some of them say pretty nasty things about students and faculty who dare not see the world the way they do.

I support DCI. It provides a valuable service on campus. I suggest going through their training. I have. In my classes, as well as during DCI exchanges, I have seen reluctant students time and again demonstrate that they are much tougher – can handle the toughest subjects – better than many gave themselves credit, better than they believed they could. But the only way they can demonstrate that strength is to be challenged, which is