The View From Here

The other night I reconnected with a former student, and what the student proceeded to tell me truly upset me. A few months back the student experienced some difficult mental health issues that led to being hospitalized. Since I wasn't in the therapist's office who heard the student's concerns, I can only judge by what I heard from the student. What was deeply troubling to me is that the student was never asked whether the student understood what was going on and how decisions were being made (and in some ways felt coerced to the student). The student is not White nor US American and not once were the issues or decisions were explored or determined through a multicultural lens. In addition, the student's family was notified in a country and culture for which mental health issues were seen as deeply shameful, and there was no understanding or sensitivity on the part of the administrators who contacted the family and simply dropped the news. Last, the student was t...

Simply put, how can a conference on the liberal arts and social transformation not address the #BlackLivesMatter movement on college campuses across the United States? This is the case at Westmont College with their annual conversation on the liberal arts. This year the theme is " From Inquiry to Impact: Social Transformation through Liberal Learning ." The list of speakers are all White (no surprise). Even though one speaker has diversity and inclusion as an area of expertise, there is no direct reference in the program on addressing how college students of color are part of a social transformation towards what some believe is the second wave of the Civil Rights Movement. In some ways it's sad for me to say that I'm not surprised although always disappointed. It's a reminder of how evangelical Christian colleges are behind the curve when it comes to diversity and social justice.