Faculty and staff members reflect on townhall
“I thought the town hall was a good first step, but as many of the speakers said, this can’t be the only step,” history professor, Michelle Damian said, reflecting on Tuesday’s town hall meeting. Over 250 Monmouth College students, faculty, and staff members gathered in the Mellinger Commons in the Center for Science and Business to be a part of an all-encompassing conversation about the campus climate. The meeting comes about after many concerns from minority groups on campus and the appearance of an anonymous student group, The Unseen. The new group reached out to the entirety of campus to express concerns over discrimination and social injustices occurring at Monmouth College. The town hall meeting was held to give all students and college community members the opportunity to make their voices heard.
Discussed at the afternoon meeting were difficult and complicated topics such as discrimination, personal experiences, stereotyping, political diversity, and much more. Chaplain Teri Ott said that the turnout alone “made it an intimidating environment to begin talking about the complicated issue of race, diversity and inclusion on our campus.” Nevertheless, students braved the pressure and spoke their truths for all to hear. Political Economy and Commerce department member, Julie Rothbardt said that “It was touching to hear students, faculty, and staff share their experiences with such emotion and sincerity.”
While many members of the community were able to speak their mind at the meeting, one of the overarching themes was the apathy and brokenness of the Monmouth College community. Much conversation was had about how to best get students to attend various events involving education, cultural celebration, and positive dialogue. Rothbardt said that it was truly “a first step in creating a campus community where members engage in civil and meaningful conversations to learn from each other and to build each other up, not tear each other down.”
Faculty and staff largely agree that the meeting was a necessary one and they are hopeful for what the future holds. Classics professor Robert Simmons said, “We all are at Monmouth because there was something about it that felt right to us; when we can speak respectfully about whatever we feel could be better, it becomes easier to determine mutually beneficial solutions.” Conversation similar to Tuesday’s have been encouraged to continue across campus. Andre Audette of the Political Science Department encourages us all to “…reflect on who we are and who we want to be at Monmouth College.” He hopes “that this is just the start of a broader conversation about what the College values and how we can live out our mission, including supporting students and not being afraid to tackle real issues on campus.” Reverend Ott is “glad we took this step as a community” and she is hopeful that it will lead to a greater awareness of why people are marginalized and other areas of needed change. Michelle Damian knows that, as a community, “we can make this journey together.”
Emma Hildebrand
Features Editor