Last week Portland was consumed by winter weather challenges, prompting a closing of campus and sending many of our homes into darkness, if only temporarily. Classes and events were postponed, meetings rescheduled, expectations about melting ice readjusting as temperatures stayed stubbornly low.
Nature called a chilly “time out” for all of us.
Among the delays was the kick off of the Building Community Through Dialogue Task Force. Given the opportunity to take some more time to listen to the voices of our community about the work of the task force and reflect on its purpose, I want to share how we plan to restructure and reframe the effort.
As we invited colleagues to engage with the work of the task force, they shared their perspectives, hopes, fears and concerns. I have been moved by what I have heard, especially the pain some members of our campus community are experiencing, and we have made adjustments based on what you shared. When we found ourselves stuck in some areas we engaged with PSU’s National Policy Consensus Center on former PSU President Stephen Percy’s recommendation to independently listen to a variety of voices in our community, especially the people we are most hoping to support through this process. As a result of the insights from these conversations, I am endeavoring to be as transparent as possible about the reasons we are forming the task force and to make some changes to the group’s scope.
I want to state unequivocally that the task force has never been about taking sides, centering one identity or experience over another, or developing a policy or a stance regarding the Middle East conflict or any other issue. It has always been primarily about addressing the real concerns on campus that members of our community are feeling unsafe, unsupported and intimidated. This is unacceptable and runs counter to a university’s role in fostering civic dialogue and debate.
I still strongly believe that a task force is needed to address incidents of perceived bias and to foster community and productive conversation in the face of the divisive and heartbreaking conflict in the Middle East. It is imperative that we spend time working to ensure that every student, faculty and staff can feel safe on this campus. Intimidation and ethnic bias of any kind will not be tolerated, and we must address complaints that have been raised.
Our university community is diverse and the goal of the task force is not to find common ground on the right solution to the Middle East conflict. It is about supporting a community where we can live with our multiple experiences, realities and positionalities and constructively engage with and talk about them even when we don’t agree. I believe we can, and must, find a way to empathize with the pain and suffering of those whose lives are affected by current events and see each others’ common humanity.
This is also a crucial time for colleges and universities across the country that are coming under scrutiny — rightly or wrongly — for their tolerance of some forms of bias. It is important that we take action to address these issues proactively so that we can stand up to would-be detractors with their own agendas, but this is not the sole driving force of our actions. While we must be aware of, and respond to, external pressures, they provide an important opportunity for us to reflect our mission and values and align our actions with our aspirations.
The initially planned-for education group seems to be causing the most disagreement and mistrust, and we have decided to pause on forming that group as initially envisioned. The topic of academic freedom, as we have heard, is paramount, so we will focus one group on that. As the task force moves forward and we develop some mutual trust, we will consider with the members and interested others whether there are other educational issues that can be safely addressed together.
We are restructuring the task force to focus on four issues:
- Addressing physical safety and preventing violence or threats on campus
- Ensuring the psychological safety of all members of our community
- Exploring opportunities to foster intercultural dialogue and understanding
- Ensuring academic freedom while also safeguarding students’ civil rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
We know people are exhausted and hurting and we would not invite you to do more if we did not believe this would help make our campus community a better place. All of us are in this together: faculty, staff, students and administrators. Our work is collaborative with all sharing in co-created learnings and outcomes.
As a result of the delayed launch, now planned for Jan. 31, there is still time to join this effort by volunteering for one of the task force subcommittees or recommending someone else you think would be helpful in our efforts. Please complete this form to nominate or self-nominate. I also welcome your continued input on this topic via email at president@pdx.edu.