Open Letter following Missouri 2015
Unless otherwise noted, these speeches and open letters were written for the Dean of Students of Biola University between 2011-2016.
College is, in many ways, a dream… a dream that we can be better than we are now. It is a place where we gather the best of our society, the brightest of our people, and we learn how to live together…a place where a vision of a better world is held out before us, and we are told, “go… build that!”
And you, our college students, are the ones expected to lead our future, the ones who are to become mature in faith and committed to justice…as John Henry Newman said, “becoming fit for this world while being trained for another.”
And so we pour ourselves into you, hoping you will become better than we are.
But all of us bring with us to college our humanity, along with all its shortcomings: Our blindspots, our hubris, our fear of the unknown and the different, our stubbornness, our self-centeredness…and in those shortcomings, intentionally or not, we often hurt each other.
Unless you’re consciously avoiding the news, you know that the media spotlight has moved from Ferguson and Baltimore to Missouri, from police conduct to college campuses. Students of color on multiple campuses have publicly protested unequal and unfair treatment, and out of these protests, stories of prejudice, ignorance, insensitivity, and cruelty have come to light.
And though we’re now talking about fraternities and classrooms instead of shootings and arrests, it seems we’ve been here before. We have. In fact, we have been here for some time, and we will be here for awhile. The systemic values of justice and equal treatment, and even the human value of love, are still far away for too many of us.
This lack of equality, this lack of justice, may not touch you. You may feel like it’s not your problem. You may not even know anyone who is experiencing this. But as one Yale student said,
“I don’t think it matters what my own personal experiences are with this….What matters is that we all need to have empathy for the experiences that people of color have, even if we don’t have those experiences for ourselves.”
Or worse, you may feel threatened, as if you were one of the people being protested against. I ask you, do not let your heart be hardened. Be willing to mourn with those who mourn. You may not agree, and you may not understand, but you can listen… to voices that perhaps you’ve never listened to before.
You have a chance to do that, this upcoming Monday, November 16, at 12 noon beneath the Bell Tower. We will have a 30-minute prayer time led by Todd Pickett. I invite you to join us.
In closing, I’d again like to quote Bryan Loritts, a pastor in New York City, a Talbot grad, and a member of the Biola Board of Trustees. He said, “It’s not good enough to just not be racist. You have to be anti-racist. If you’re around someone who makes an off-color comment, don’t be a ‘safe place’ for that—be willing to have an awkward moment.”
So let’s share what may be an awkward moment. I hope to see you Monday at noon.
Daniel D. Paschall
Chief Student Development Officer & Dean of Students
Division of Student Development | Biola University
