[Jewish] JSU - Letter of Concern 2/7/2019

[Alyssa Coffey]

Hello JSU and Friends, 

_**Note: The following letter was composed earlier this week in response
to the events that transpired on Tuesday, February 5 involving a JSU
member at a sit-in protest. This letter was discussed at our weekly
meeting on Wednesday, February 6.**_ 

Shavuah tov (a good week), 

Al Coffey 

--------------------------- 

7 February 2019 

Hampshire College Jewish Student Union Letter of Concern 

This letter represents the majority but not a consensus of the Jewish
Student Union. In the typical Jewish tradition of debate, we welcome the
dissenting opinions of our members, as they affirm our wish to make our
voices heard. 

ON THIS ISSUE WE STAND UNIFIED: WE ARE SADDENED BY TUESDAY’S EVENT, AND
WE BELIEVE IT TO BE A RESULT OF THE ERODING CULTURE OF SHARED
GOVERNANCE. The dissenting voices wish to meet the administration with
compassion in their frustration rather than calling out the
administration with anger and disappointment. 

On Tuesday, an incident occurred involving one of our members and the
Dean of Students of the College, Gloria Lopez. This student was engaged
in the sit-in protest currently taking place in the Dean of Students
office when they began to say personal daily prayers, by most accounts
in a non-disruptive manner and consistent with the level of volume
already in the space. Interrupting their prayers, the Dean reprimanded
the student, arguing that they were being loud and disruptive to the
work environment. Dean Lopez claimed that the student protesters were
upsetting the order of her office. Recognizing that the Dean was using
this Jewish student's expression of religion to attack the larger
movement, other student protesters around began to show support by
joining together in song. Upset at this latest demonstration, Dean Lopez
went to President Miriam Nelson's office, where they conferred for a
significant period of time, eventually emerging to an audience of
students in the President's office and Cole Science Center. 

President Nelson and Dean Lopez attempted to engage in dialogue with
those students, assuaging concerns of intentional anti-semitism.
However, as the conversation continued, President Nelson and Dean
Lopez's rebuke of the students' actions significantly overshadowed their
apology for the hurtful actions of silencing prayer. 

Yesterday, Dean Lopez sent out a college-wide email in which she
"apologize[d] to any students who may have been impacted by [her]
actions." This email is seen by the JSU as a non-apology, particularly
because she does not describe the event in question, nor does it offer
any concrete steps she will take to put this event behind all of us. 

Under-represented communities at Hampshire are consistently at odds with
the college and administration, demanding their deserved institutional
recognition and support. 

Despite this history, the Jewish Student Union does not find Dean Lopez
uniquely responsible for yesterday's incident: WE BELIEVE THAT THIS
EVENT IS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE EROSION OF TRUST BETWEEN THE
CONSTITUENTS OF THE COLLEGE AND THOSE TASKED WITH REPRESENTING
CONSTITUENTS’ INTERESTS. 

WE HOLD THE EXECUTIVES OF THE COLLEGE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
COLLAPSE OF THE COLLABORATIVE, SHARED GOVERNANCE THAT HAS BEEN PART OF
THE COLLEGE SINCE ITS FOUNDING. 

WE RECOGNIZE THAT NO ONE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY THE COLLEGE IN AN
ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE IS EQUIPPED TO HANDLE THE CURRENT SITUATION WITHOUT
THE ADVICE OF FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENTS, WHICH HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY
REBUFFED. 

Dean Lopez is tasked with rolling out huge cutbacks and layoffs
affecting people she has consistently refused to empathize with. The
challenge that President Nelson faces is even greater. Even if she
adequately understood the culture of the college and was fully adapted
to the academic, professional, and social environment at Hampshire, the
negotiation of a strategic partnership is impossible to ford alone. Yet
the entire Executive Committee persists in ignoring and dismissing
offers of collaboration from students, staff, and faculty. 

What the administration fails to understand is that Hampshire's essence
is not narrative evaluations, or the divisional system, or the forest,
or the farm: the people make Hampshire College. In spite of the
Executive Committee's demonstrated neglect for the people whose best
interests they claim to advance, we, the Jewish Student Union know what
makes this college our home. Hampshire, much like the Jewish people,
exists despite great odds because of its oral tradition. We recognize
that without the interwoven responsibilities and knowledge that
Hampshire's staff and faculty hold, HAMPSHIRE WILL CEASE TO EXIST. Any
strategic partnership that prioritizes the (increasingly vague)
"educational model" without protecting the oral tradition that gives it
life is valueless. 

While many of us were advertised and promised an experience at Hampshire
that differs from its current reality, we choose to remain at Hampshire
because of what we know it can be. We know that Hampshire at its best is
a community of learners and teachers, not a corporation for executives
to dictate institutional change without notice or consultation. We, as
Hampshire's advertising often repeats, are stakeholders in our own
educations. We will not stand idly by while our opportunities for
intellectual and personal growth are torn down in front of us. The
entire process of this decision and its announcement has been
antithetical to the stated and historic values of Hampshire College. 

WE DO NOT BELIEVE THE EXECUTIVES OF THE COLLEGE WHEN THEY TELL US THAT
WE WILL GRADUATE WITHOUT DISRUPTION TO OUR EDUCATION. This incident is
already proof that the culture of fear, distrust and antagonism, while
not new, has grown exponentially over the last three weeks and has
reached a breaking point. Layoffs are expected to be announced within a
week. All faculty contracts are under review. OUR LIVES AND EDUCATIONS
HAVE ALREADY BEEN DISRUPTED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE UNTIL THE COLLEGE
GUARANTEES OUR ORAL TRADITION. 

We are deeply concerned by the administration's deteriorating
relationship with its students, as this latest incident exemplifies. We
call upon college executives to rebuild a relationship of trust, mutual
support, and collaboration with students, faculty, and staff. 

Sincerely, 

The Hampshire College Jewish Student Union 

 
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