Students react with letter to President VanAken regarding “hate speech”

Hello, Elmhurst College Students and Staff. We want to share the following letter that we have sent to President VanAken and the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees. We do not want our shared concerns to be forgotten.

Dear President VanAken and Elmhurst College Board of Trustees,

Respectfully, we, a concerned group of English majors, write to you in regards to the actions, and perhaps more importantly the inaction, of EC following the series of recent hate crimes on campus, and within our nation. We would like to emphasize that a hate crime is a crime, typically one involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds. Given the atmosphere of hate that has permeated this campus; for example, the white supremacist stickers, racist grafitti in bathrooms, and shooting threats during a week of celebrating queer identities, we feel it is of the utmost importance to discuss the context in which attitudes like these have been fostered.

Per President VanAken’s email on September 23, 2019 following the white supremacy sticker found on campus, “hate speech has no home on our campus. It goes against everything we believe in and represent as an institution.” Similarly on October 24, President VanAken reiterated in an email addressing hate-based incidents on campus that allegedly “hateful and threatening speech have no place on Elmhurst Campus.” He claims that “such messages offend all of us, and violates Elmhurst’s core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Furthermore, on October 24, the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees wrote to the student body, “It’s also important to inject some civility into this situation. Though it is both easy and understandable to feel anger towards the perpetrator who wrote these messages, let’s remember that anger appears to be driving the perpetrator’s actions.” However, when people’s identities and lives are threatened, there is no space for civility. It is hate that has driven the perpetrator’s actions, not anger. Anger can be productive, hate never is. And we are angry.

A brief look into Elmhurst’s recent history, specifically the infamous Chapel Incident on November 9, 1970, shows that racial tensions have always existed just below the surface at EC. With that in mind, we felt called to send out a survey regarding student’s perspectives on hate crimes and their experiences with hate speech at EC. Sixty-five students responded within a week of our posting of the survey, showing that students have not forgotten about and are still affected by hate on campus.

Out of the sixty-five students who responded, 94% stated that they are aware of how hate crimes are defined. Additionally, 54% of participants say that they or someone they know has experienced hate speech on Elmhurst’s campus—not specifically related to the recent series of hate crimes. Some responses from students, who will remain anonymous for their own safety, include:

“One of my African American friends was called the n-word by his white roommate.”

“I have been through people in my dorms calling me homophobic slurs and making fun of my autism. I have also never been taken seriously when I have reported bullying on this campus.”

“I have experienced hate as a political minority on campus, as well as a handicap.”

We understand that this time has been difficult to be a student and administrator given the political climate of our society. Yet, it is hard to accept that you did not inform us, or respond in a more transparent, passionate, and informative way, especially in the national context of where school shootings have become increasingly frequent. As our president, actions need to be taken immediately to inform students of these hateful acts. It feels careless and uneducated to students to have those in charge of EC not responding with proper action given the current climate of our country. We understand that you might have regrets regarding how you have handled this series of recent hate crimes. We want to stand by you; however, we need you to stand for us.

Regards,

A Concerned Group of English Majors

Lewis R. Poor
Sarah Reynolds
Sarah Tenuta
Suzanne Lange
Karen C. Collins
Jenna Pederson -The Leader Staff Writer

Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor do not reflect those of the paper or its staff and are not intended to represent those of the college at large.