Whitman Admin, Do We Have Your Attention Now?

Warning: Critical Thinking Skills Required Beyond This Point

Shared June 3 2020

Hello Whitman community, in your hands is another packet!

Why does this packet exist? This packet originally came about prior to Spring Break and the COVID-19 pandemic we still find ourselves in. We recognize the extraordinary circumstances that we are all facing, however, the issues facing BIPOC follow regardless of whether we are on Whit(e)man’s campus or not.

COVID-19 doesn’t take away the fact that this campus can be unsafe for students, staff, and faculty, and certainly doesn’t deserve the neglect it has been given from the Whitman Admin. The administration continues to be absent in regard to the “Timely Response” email sent out by Black Student Union (BSU) and Whitman African Student Association (WASA) written in response to the “Timely Warning” email sent out about the anti-Black hate crime that took place in early February.

We are explicitly calling out the Whitman Administration for neglecting to acknowledge the pain of its students, staff, and faculty of color in the face of the BSU/WASA email, the demands made in the “For the Record” zine, and (historically) for ignoring the original demands made by the BSU, circa 1970.

Where was the email denouncing racism and/or anti-Blackness when we were all still on campus, Kathy?

All that being said, we got tired of folks complaining that they ain’t seen some of the emails that have been going around in February/March. So, per usual, we did the labor for you and compiled it all onto one place. Now you have all the facts. May you see the manner in which the administration actively refused to deal with this all.

You’re welcome.

Mayrangela Cervantes <cervanm@whitman.edu>

[stu20] Mourning the killing of George Floyd: a solidarity message Kathleen Murray <kmurray@whitman.edu> To: cervanm@whitman.edu

Sat, May 30, 2020 at 6:18 PM

Dear students, faculty and staff, I write to you today with sadness, as I watch the fabric of our nation tearing apart in response to last Monday’s tragic killing of George Floyd, a black man, by the hand of a white police officer. The senselessness of Floyd’s death—alongside the tragic deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor— can only be appropriately understood in the context of anti-black racism and the American stain of slavery that has persisted throughout our history and whose legacy continues today through the antiblack rhetoric prevalent in our society and the inequality that permeates our systems of justice.

Rightfully so, these killings have sparked a national response filled with horror, anger, and outrage, with protests erupting in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Boston, and other cities. As a native Midwesterner who spent many years living in the Twin Cities, seeing the video of the violent way George Floyd was killed left me with feelings of horror and shame. But regardless of where we find home, each of us will need to grapple in our own way with this seemingly intractable challenge of systemic racism.

I also know for those in our community who identify as people of color – and in particular African Americans – this violence sparks an entirely different level of anger and sorrow. To those in this group, I can only say that while I can’t begin to understand how you may be feeling in this moment, I am here for you, and I call on the entire Whitman community to stand with you in love and solidarity.

Our community, like our nation, is imperfect. But we will continue to work to make it better. Part of this is to publicly call out and act against racism and inequality when we see it. Black lives matter. For members of the Whitman community who are engaged in public protest, I hope you are able to do so in ways that keep you safe from physical harm.

I hope to lend my voice to those nationally who are calling for more accountability in our systems of justice, so that deaths like these do not continue. I plan to reach out to our elected officials to express my concern, and encourage others to do the same. Also, if you see things within the Whitman community that propagate racism or inequality, please reach out to Thomas Witherspoon (withertl@whitman.edu), our vice president for diversity and inclusion. Know that it is my priority, in collaboration with Thomas and others, to address these issues within the Whitman community.

If you need additional support, please know Whitman is here for you. Students can reach the Counseling Center at 509-527-5195 and the Intercultural Center staff at 509-527-5596. Staff and faculty are encouraged to reach out to Cascade Centers, the college’s employee assistance program, at 800-433-2320.

With deep sadness, Kathy

The same systemic racism that underpins George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor’s and the murder of countless black people is the racism that underpins the hate crime you were silent about. This email is as false as the care you claim to provide to students of color.

This chapter is called: “Wait, there was another email?!”

Here you will find all the emails/documents that have been sent out in response to the “Timely Warning: Hate/Bias Incidents on Campus” email we all received on February 15, 2020 from Whitman Security.

As a bonus, we included other emails that administration sent during this time as well.

Exhibit 1: “Timely Warning”

Exhibit 2: “A Timely Response…”

Exhibit 3: “Junior/Senior Housing Open House”

Exhibit 4: Borders As Method (BAM) Club Letter of Solidarity

Mayrangela Cervantes <cervanm@whitman.edu>

[wakilishaafrikaclub] Solidarity letter to BSU/WASA "A Timely Response" Erina Horikawa <horikae@whitman.edu> Sat, Feb 22, 2020 at 10:57 PM To: announcements@lists.whitman.edu, wakilishaafrikaclub@lists.whitman.edu, community@lists.whitman.edu, students@lists.whitman.edu

Dear members of the Whitman community, It has been 7 days since the "Timely Response to the Untimely Warning: Ongoing Hate/Bias Incidents on Campus" email was sent out. In regards to the ongoing hate, bias, and racism on campus, we, the Borders as Method (BAM) club stand in solidarity with the Black Student Union (BSU), Whitman African Student Association (WASA), and all People of Color (POC) on Whitman’s campus.

We recognize how the term ‘solidarity’ could be used without taking into consideration its full meaning.

Therefore, we define solidarity as standing in unity with those who have been the targets of hate, prejudice, and discrimination due to their racial identity, and to work together towards creating an antiracist campus. Our hope is that members of BSU/WASA and all students of color who feel unsafe on this campus know that we stand with you.

We disagree with the rhetoric used in the original 'timely warning' email which distorts and normalizes instances of racial violence like these. We stand with the claims made by BSU and WASA of how the institution: 1. took an untimely action with a clear instance of racial hate 2. by taking delayed action, caused and will continue to cause fear, mistrust, and threaten the safety and health of POC on campus.

As written in the "Timely Response to the Untimely Warning: Ongoing Hate/Bias Incidents on Campus," we cannot water down racism. Who is the administration serving by using the vague language of “bias incident” or “racial epithet” rather than “hate crime” or “racial slur”? In fact, The Crime Log itself says that after conducting an investigation this event went from being a “Bias Incident” to a Hate Crime. Why was this important piece of information not included in the email we all received (two weeks after this Hate Crime took place)?

As Angela Davis told us all during her keynote, having “diversity” and “inclusion” isn’t enough. We demand the administration take action against racism on campus and that this action does not continue to physically, emotionally, and mentally harm students, faculty, and staff of color. There continues to be a lack of communication and transparency from the Whitman administration, which perpetuates mistrust. Their lack of action in regards to this most recent Hate Crime (that we know of) and BSU/WASA’s response is an act of complacency.

In solidarity, Borders as Methods

Exhibit 5: “Whitman Racist Policy”

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 5 continued

Exhibit 6: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letter to campus communityâ&#x20AC;?

Exhibit 7: Faculty/Staff Letter of Support

Exhibit 7 continued

Exhibit 7 continued

Exhibit 7 continued

Exhibit 8: “Coronavirus Information” **

Exhibit 8 continued

** The first email regarding the Coronavirus was sent out 13 days after the initial “Timely Warning” email (check the dates yourself). The administration had all that time to say something, anything. While Coronavirus is important to discuss, it arrived second to BSU/WASA’s “Timely Response email” and wayyyy after the For the Record zine was disseminated on campus with its demands. So, keep your excuses about priorities.

Exhibit 9: “Coronavirus Update” #1…and a response to the Zine and/or the BSU/WASA email? *crickets*

Exhibit 9 continued

Exhibit 10: “Excused Absence Policy Change”

Exhibit 11: “Coronavirus Update and FAQ”

Exhibit 12: “Coronavirus Forum”

Exhibit 13: “Re: [faculty] HR Statement to faculty and staff on COVID-19”

Exhibit 13 continued

Exhibit 15: More Coronavirus! BSU/WASA who?

Exhibit 16: “An important coronavirus update”

Congrats, you made it to the end of this packet! As you should’ve noticed, there is not one email from admin addressing BSU/WASA, the For the Record zine’s demands, etc. featured in here because that has yet to happen! And on the day this packet finds its way into your hands, we are confident there will still be nothing from Admin!

And it’s not like Kathy (or her ghostwriter) doesn’t know how to write emails condemning certain behaviors or actions:

Black, Indigenous and people of color at Whitman are seriously affected by the way other students, faculty, and community members behave towards them and it has been this way for such a long time. This is the environment that many students have experienced and will return to post-Corona Virus. The language this campus uses to describes instances of racism overlooks the truth, and Whitman has continued to ignore the needs of Black, Indigenous and other people of color essentially for its entire history. This packet is meant to capture just some of the recent buffoonery that this campus had been up to before COVID-19 took off.

The question then becomes what are YOU going to do with this information? There are so many different forms of racism and anti-blackness on this campus, that deserve to be recognized at all times (not just when social media deems it popular to be “woke”) If you are a student, you should be asking what you can do to get the attention of the administration. How can you be an ally to Black, Indigenous and people of color on this campus? Not just now, but long after the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has ended…

Faculty members, you should be asking what you can do support Black and nonBlack-students, faculty and staff of color on this campus?

If you are an administrator, stop neglecting an entire population on this campus and work towards meeting our needs. We are asking for real and true change. If you're going to bring students of color on this campus, if you're going to hire staff of color, you need to work on how they are being treated and how you can better support them.

Our business here is to learn, not educate you on how to better run this campus.

DO YOUR DAMN JOB.