This past Tuesday, Monmouth College held a Town Hall meeting about Monmouth’s campus climate. Monmouth students and their experiences as well as opinions were the focus of this event. Students were given the floor first on all topics before professors were heard. The three topics that the town hall was divided into were the experiences and opinions of Monmouth students who are part of groups that have been historically marginalized, then those who are not part of historically marginalized groups could share their feelings on the Monmouth environment, the third topic involved reflecting on all that had been discussed and suggestions for solutions.
Over the course of the discussion, some students expressed feeling a lack of support by Monmouth facilities and staff. Others expressed an honest lack of knowledge on the issues that Monmouth has. Students shared specific experiences that illustrate this lack of support. Members of groups such as RAICES and UMOJA also expressed frustration that their attempts to educate students and staff about the issues they face tend to be ignored or to fall on deaf ears. Several others felt similarly about how concerns are addressed and how they often seem to go nowhere at Monmouth. Professors weighed in and shared their similar experiences and feelings as well as supporting others sharing theirs.
During the discussion of the second topic, some students expressed that they did not agree with what was being discussed and perhaps felt marginalized themselves as conservatives or as part of other groups. Still others tended to confirm the feelings of their fellow, more marginalized students and expressed their support. Many professors at this point expressed further support of marginalized groups on campus and touched on some factors that make outreach and interaction on campus difficult for groups, as well as expressing their willingness to support students. Finally, students went on to discuss how Monmouth College could become a more welcoming and integrating campus when it comes to helping people understand and respect each other. Most of the students and staff that spoke at this town hall expressed their desire to try to support and educate fellow students in what ways they could.
The meeting was capped off by an address to the present students and staff made by Dean Willhardt. The Dean addressed several of the concerns and topics that had come up over the course of the discussion including teacher training, hiring practices, and student recruitment strategies. The meeting was ended by gathering the suggestions for solutions of those present on notecards alongside the expression of a promise of future efforts to improve the campus for Monmouth students.
Joseph Doner
Political Editor