- Dean Feldblum for that wonderful introduction.
Welcome students, faculty, administrators,
staff, trustees and other members of the college community.
To the class of 2020 and transfer and exchange students,
welcome to the start of your first
academic year at Pomona.
At points of beginning like this,
we look forward and try to envision
how this coming year might play out.
We hope to impose some kind of plan
on an uncertain future.
But to inform these projections,
we must look back at all that has elapsed in the last year.
In Orlando we saw the deadliest incident of violence
against the queer community in U.S. history.
In Nice and in Munich, we saw frightening
instances of global terror.
In the bombings in Baghdad and in Istanbul,
we see the violence often ignored by Western-centric media.
In the shootings of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling,
in the public's treatment of Gabby Douglas,
we see the bitter hand of racism.
In Brexit, and in the rhetoric of this presidential cycle,
we see xenophobia embraced on a national level.
Social media and the 24-hour news cycle,
as President Oxley mentioned, bring an immediacy
and an intimacy to the pain, loss
and strife of the last year.
And the Pomona community is not immune.
We are not emotionally removed.
These campuses are a microcosm of the world
and a part of it.
Thankfully we have not seen the same horrific loss of life.
But we individual members of the Claremont community
as members of those communities affected worldwide,
still feel that pain.
We see it in the protests at CMC last year.
And in the raw and emotional testimonies
of students of color.
We see it in the fear that some international students feel
for their families while their peers
party around them, unaware.
And the urgency of these events deserves acknowledgement.
There will and should be conversations about them,
on campus, both in and out of the classroom.
It is Pomona's stated mission to educate
the next generation of leaders, scholars,
artists and citizens.
It is places like Pomona that help form the thoughts
of future thought leaders.
And we cannot do this well without intentionality.
This year, ASPC is reflecting on how we frame conversations
along two dimensions.
I share them with you today in the hopes
that together, we can bring these considerations
to campus dialogues.
First, we ask
who is present?
Then, what is the mindset in which
we approach the conversations?
We must be cognizant of who is at the table
and who is not.
And when the conversation at hand includes
making decisions without all stakeholders present
we must reflect on how that changes
the quality of the decision.
This concern, that of who is present
is one that we should be asking at all levels
of this institution.
Seven years ago, ASPC president Jed Cullen
identified our tradition of change
driven by community discourse.
ASPC commends Pomona College for its use
of a shared governance system.
Students, we
share voices on
we share voices and votes on committees
with trustees, faculty, and administrators.
But we at Pomona are increasingly a part
of the broader Claremont Colleges community.
Meaningful decisions, such as those on demonstration policy,
and negotiations around substance-free opening dates,
are happening at the consortial level.
Students need to be present in these discussions.
Our second question considers the mindset
with which we approach the conversation.
It is tempting, and sometimes easier,
to take polarized positions in discussions.
Let's explore one key example,
the recent nationwide debate on safe spaces
and academic freedom.
Robust intellectual debate is framed
as antithetical to student's desires to feel safe.
But these ideas are not mutually exclusive.
We are capable of having compassion
for our peers while rigorously debating ideas.
The Pomona student body has changed
significantly over the past few years.
Before, your typical Pomona student
may have come from a background
in which they were insulated
from the real implications of many discussions.
Now we admit more students of color
more low-income students,
and more students from a variety of diverse backgrounds.
A student's experiences have real influence
on how they experience discussions.
If I were to discuss the theoretical implications
of a Trump presidency for undocumented
and documented students,
I would be able to do so with some form
of academic distance.
But for those students who are directly affected,
the potential consequences are much more
real and terrifying.
Global tragedies, campus-wide events,
and everyday discussions have real emotional effects
on your friends and your peers.
On our campuses, we offer spaces for people to regroup
with those who are similarly emotionally affected.
We don't do this to avoid hard conversations,
but so the people that we care about can process together.
Such spaces are needed now, not because students
are more coddled, but because students
are closer to the real-life implications
of academic discussions.
Safe spaces are a tool in the service of education.
I understand that there are some who think otherwise.
When I speak with students who feel this way,
I can see that they are motivated by genuine concern
for academic freedom.
While I may disagree with their conclusions,
I respect their intention.
Safe spaces should not inhibit healthy academic discourse.
In a debate like this one on safe spaces
and academic freedom,
I ask that you consider that the least empathetic
least helpful view is the needlessly polarized one.
Consider adopting a mindset
that searches for nuance,
and seeks to understand others perspectives.
Try to remember that for some,
these discussions are steeped in pain and loss.
For all, there is no clean separation
of one's experiences from one's views.
There is tragedy in this world.
The Claremont bubble does not protect us from it.
Our responsibility on these campuses
is to seek to understand,
so that we may strive to do better.
I urge you to do so by having conversations
that challenge your views.
And having them with intentionality.
Ask yourself, who is present?
Consider where others are coming from.
And strive to see the nuance in even
the most polarized of debates.
So this academic year, consider this.
We have the opportunity,
we have the responsibility,
and we have the power to elevate campus dialogue.
Thank you.
(applause)