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Dear classmates, faculty, staff, and upper administration,

Last year we wrote a petition to SPU, arguing that the practices and policies of the university are in need of drastic revision in order for justice to be served for marginalized students and the growing population of students of color on campus. Our approach was therefore aimed at changing the system by working with upper administration to alter or abandon specific policies and practices regarding student life. Our primary goal was to begin the process of hiring a Chief Diversity Officer, and we intentionally avoided most educational platforms used to explain systemic injustice (that’s the school’s job). The response by upper administration was to have us, the SPU Justice Coalition, meet with several different groups of faculty, staff, and administrators to analyze different aspects of the institution to decide where changes can and should be made. The focus of one of these groups was to design a job description for a Chief Diversity Office. Each of these groups proved to be unproductive distractions.
In the Spring of 2016, the hiring committee appointed to oversee the selection of a Chief Diversity Officer met for the first time. The Justice Coalition requested that at least two of its members be allowed to join the committee. President Dan Martin denied this request, and asked for the participation of only one member because this is the maximum number of students that have been allowed on previous hiring committees. This response on the part of upper administration, specifically President Martin, clearly demonstrates a poor understanding of power and privilege, and a misguided understanding of the change that needs to happen.
There is an unfortunate kind of knowledge that comes from being a member of a marginalized group. This kind of knowledge serves as a filter through which the world is encountered, and marginalization is learned. It is this kind of knowledge, this personal experience, which does not stretch to imagine injustice but remembers it. Privilege is an unfortunate reality that distorts the truth of injustice, so that the privileged often do not recognize justice when they see it. Privilege cannot be avoided, and therefore we cannot justly blame or hate those who have it. It is the acceptance, and the abuse, of privilege that is so often the foundation of systemic injustice. This is the situation in which we find ourselves at SPU.
To some, the role of the Justice Coalition seems to be that of a teacher—we have information that others do not, and we should share it. It seems to those people that the justice coalition should explain the situation from our perspective, suggest a few books, and let Dr. Martin do his job. It seems this way especially to Dr. Martin, who constantly reminds students of all the books he reads and the conferences he attends. If it were the case that these books and conferences could eliminate the distortion of privilege entirely, then Dr. Martin would know that what Seattle Pacific University needs is partnership with people whose lives are unfortunately familiar with marginalization, whose histories have been shaped by systemic injustice, whose memories are filled with the faces of the oppressed, and not just the image of a well-stocked bookshelf.
This is the role of the SPU Justice Coalition: we are not the most educated because we have so many degrees, or have read the most books, but we have an education of a different kind—a lived experience with the internalized bias of the system itself. Especially in the absence of a Chief Diversity Office, we are in a unique position to provide insight into the shape of our future, but we are not experts in the creation of the system, in the creation of policy. We have been, until recently, hopeful that the institution, with all its aspiring goodwill, would be willing to partner with us, each group providing important insight. Of course, we who are constantly misled by the system, whose families have been abused by the system, whose people have been killed by the system, are not willing to enter into these spaces alone. We are wary—and we, the powerless, only have strength insofar as we have each other. We were denied this safety. We were denied partnership. We were denied access to participation in the creation of our future, on the basis of typical (status quo) policy. President Martin, true to his privilege, agreed to only work together on his terms.
Three members of the Justice Coalition walked into the conference room in Demaray Hall last Spring. Dan Martin pulled us out of the meeting to talk in the small lobby, and asked why we were there. “Guess how many students were on my hiring committee,” he said, “You’re asking that all schools change their hiring policies.” Yes, President Martin—we are. It is unreasonable to expect that any institution would arrive at a new destination (justice) without changing its course (systemic exclusion and oppression). In order for true change to occur, we must be a part of the process - therein lies the real change!

“Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning building; it is to lead them into the populist pitfall and transform them into masses which can be manipulated.” — Paulo Freire

It is not our fear that the newly appointed Vice President of Equity and Inclusion would be poorly chosen; it is not entirely our fear that this new position would only detract from other areas of the school where good work is already being done; our fear, our assertion, is that any kind of success resulting from this new position, would only be another result of white male achievement; and that the process—the practices of this institution which continue to deny the full participation of marginalized peoples—would only be encouraged. Dan Martin, you have missed the point almost entirely. In our exclusion, the institution has tacitly announced that it does not need our participation, and that justice (assuming justice is its aim) can be achieved through the hard work of people with power. In other words, that justice is based on merit, not on cooperation with the oppressed. As with so many other colonialist approaches to reform, you have presumed, without listening, that you know what is best for us.
It is difficult to imagine a better analogy for the systemic exclusion of marginalized people than a President (an attorney, at that) explaining to a group of marginalized people how policy dictates that they not be permitted into the creation of their new home, and the choosing of their new representative. Still we remain hopeful, and active, but less naive. Although our partnership with upper administration has reached a dead end, our work at the university is not over. Instead of focusing on partnership with upper administration, we will focus on our people, on the students of SPU who continue to suffer with no recourse (email address below). One way or another, the policies of this institution will be changed, and its unjust practices exposed. The “whirlpools” will continue to grow, and we will disrupt the order maintained by the policies that subjugate us while we anticipate the arrival of the “Vice President,” whose position is already built on a misconception of equity and inclusion.

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that [oppressed people’s] great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another [person’s] freedom…” - MLK


They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds,

— The SPU Justice Coalition
[email protected]

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What recruiting efforts have been made to increase diversity amongst faculty members, specifically sexuality. As a "Christian" institution the university takes a certain position regarding sexuality. Yet, there are Christians who do not take the same stance, and course, there are Christians who also identify as queer. Many who would be great professors. Do queer faculty exist without hiding. Is this not an injustice and a form of oppression that should be addressed by a loving Christian school?

Asked by Anonymous

This is a great observation, and no, faculty members cannot openly identify as LGBTQ+ at this institution as of now. From my understanding, even if the administration were to be in support of an open and accepting policy (which I don’t believe most of them are), removing the restriction would require a divergence from Free Methodist policy. So to answer your first question, no efforts have been made to increase sexual/gender identity diversity on campus since such diversity goes against the institution’s policies. The only things I have heard about any type of employee (staff, faculty, or otherwise) on campus openly identifying have been stories of silencing and oppression. 
The members of the Justice Coalition strongly echo your final question; the answer is absolutely. 
-E

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I too have sent messages asking legitimate questions to this page and the lack of response, either here or on the facebook page is really sad. The number one criticism I hear of your movement is the lack of transparency; what are you doing, who with, why, and what is actually changing behind the scenes? If you truly speak for people of color, we need to know what is going on. As it stands, you hold unprecedented power and are using it in ways we know not.

Asked by Anonymous

Hi, we apologize for the slowness of our responses to all who have been waiting for them. The logistics of working with such a large group (20+) of people and sending collective messages is quite difficult; that being said, I don’t want to deny the importance of your questions, but I do want to recognize the importance that we place on collective voice and making sure everyone in our group has a voice. 
I can only speak from my personal experience, but I do often hear from friends, allies, and even opponents that our lack of transparency is concerning. First of all, we want to dispel the notion that we speak for any people of color besides ourselves. What we hope to achieve as the Justice Coalition is instead to liberated spaces on campus and lift up the voices of oppressed and marginalized groups. We are not the group working for justice on campus, we are a group who are simply giving it our all. There are times when I feel I cannot share information with anyone besides my Justice Coalition family because of the sensitivity of information such as names of faculty/staff who wish to remain anonymous (often out of fear of repercussions), documents upper administration has asked us to keep confidential, or other cases where we want to respect identities and wishes of people involved. This does not mean anyone should feel left out or give up on our campus’ fight for justice and liberation! Instead, I would hope that students’ awareness of the campus climate being such that people don’t even want information to be public would incite even more of a passion for fighting against a system where marginalized experiences are mocked or silenced. 

I would say the same for the question of why we haven’t shared more about what we are doing and what we have been doing the past few weeks: as we shared at our town hall last month, members of our group continue to meet with different members of the administration to brainstorm ideas and work on moving the university structure forward to include a new chief diversity office as well as all the other points demanded in our petition to the university and referenced in Dr. Martin’s update to the Board of Trustees at the end of February. In addition, we have been recruiting and welcoming new members of our coalition who will be serving with us next year. Some of our members have been planning the upcoming People of Color Celebration event and many have also been at Seattle U’s Matteo Ricci College talking to their student coalition and supporting them during their sit-in. As you can imagine, this is all a lot of responsibility for full-time students to take on, especially as many of us also work one or more jobs, serve in leadership positions, and get no credit or compensation for this work we are so passionate for. I hope that you will continue to reach out to us with questions and conversation topics, and also approach us on campus! Thank you again for your patience and your willingness to ask questions.
-E

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Still waiting for queer representation on campus, especially for queer womxn of color. Why do Christian institutions continue to denounce our experiences and stories? Why do hetero/cissexist traditions, policies, & curriculums continue to be allowed to flourish? I've had enough of this bullshit. It's exciting to see you all taking up the cause and standing in solidarity with MRC student coalition. Glad to see you all are making moves here at SPU too. Hoping that tangible change can come about.

Asked by iruntowardlightning

Well put. Thank you for speaking up, and thank you for your support!
-E

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It's kind of disheartening to have sent two messages to this page- asking genuine questions of mission and goals in respects to actual tangible things and have yet to be replied to- posted about- nothing.

Asked by Anonymous

Hi, to those of you who have asked questions on the tumblr site but have not been responded to yet, we apologize. We have begun to answer some questions on our facebook page, in addition to conversations we had with many students at our town hall event last week. If you still feel your question has not been answered on either our website or our facebook page, please feel free to ask again and one of us will try to answer to our best ability. Thanks for the nudge!
-Erin

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SPU Justice Coalition Town Hall

The SPU Justice Coalition would like to invite you to our town hall event happening this coming Thursday, April 28. You can find more info on the Facebook event page, or send us a message if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!

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Attending Seattle Pacific University was one of the best decisions of my life.  Although I have wonderful memories and friendships from my time there, there were also experiences that were not so fond.  One incident that stands out to me is a presentation that took place in one of my classes during my sophomore year.  A group was assigned the topic of British Colonization and their cruelty towards native populations.  They made a video to illustrate the topic and made a human figure out of a pillow for their prop.  This figure was given a black face and black arms.  Throughout the intentionally “humorous” video, they repeatedly beat the figure, ripped off it’s arm, and finally threw it over a ledge.  This last scene made the class laugh.  What should have been disturbing and utterly appalling, was made into something humorous and light-hearted.  Students were laughing and class concluded like any other day.

I privately reached out to my professor, as one of the only students of color in that classroom, and they immediately thanked me for speaking out and proceeded to address the class as to why the video was inappropriate.  Although I’m glad that my professor addressed the situation, it shouldn’t have taken a student to point out how culturally insensitive and completely offensive that presentation had been.  It should have occurred to the students – at some point during the 3 weeks they had to work on the project – that maybe it wasn’t a good idea; that maybe trivializing and making a joke out of the mass exploitation, abuse, and incarceration of an oppressed group of people was a bad idea.  It most definitely should have occurred to the professor right away.

This is just one example of why I firmly believe cultural competency training and the hiring of a more diverse faculty and staff is undoubtedly essential to the formation and growth of the entire SPU community.  This will not only prepare students as they enter a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic world and workforce, but it makes SPU a safe environment for students of color, like myself.  This experience really opened my eyes to the naïveté surrounding issues of race and culture.  It prompted me to do all I could to make a difference in the school that I love so much.  I stand in solidarity with the students, faculty, and staff who are proudly carrying that torch like so many before us.

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Poem of a People Looking for Light

This is not easy for me to say, even more, so many years later. Is it too much to ask to be known? Fake people, living fake lives, thinking they know and thinking that what they know is all there is. You should know–we are here. All the voices that have been silenced are crying out for justice. Fell times call for heroes to rise. For only through passing through the darkness can we reach the light. It is, this light, something for all. Because this light doesn’t care or ask where you’re from, what gender you are or love or if you vote like Kanye just because you’re black. You’ll see this light because we all will. Believe it. Anything, everything, and all things will be made clear, all the pieces will be put in place. If we don’t strive for that justice, for that dream while we live, why would we deserve it when we die? It has been lost in this world that forces you to conform and bend. Fit yourself into this space is what we hear–but I should not be defined by anyone but God and myself. Your life, my life, black lives, white lives, rainbow and gay lives matter. Stories make us, define us, create flourishing humans where senseless beings existed before, and it is this aspect that is being destroyed and that we must stand up to defend.

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On the topic of diversity it is important that the issue of sexuality be brought up. Staff and faculty members are required to sign a statement that says "We believe it is in the context and covenant of marriage between a man and a women that the full expression of sexuality is to be experienced and celebrated and that such a commitment is part of God's plan for human flourishing." This language is marginalizing to those who don't fall into the category of cisnornatovity. How is this just?

Asked by Anonymous
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I am an alumnus of SPU (Class of 2000). I am white.

My four years at SPU was a time of incredible personal growth as a young Christian. My mentors and professors broadened my outlook on faith and encouraged me to examine the ways that my embodied faith impacted the world around me. I found my career calling as an artist at SPU and was encouraged to pursue that calling despite the fact that it was not a “practical choice”. SPU was the first place where I interacted in a meaningful way with other Christians who didn’t agree with me.

I learned SO MUCH at SPU.
But I never learned about structural racism, systematic injustice, and white privilege. In my ignorance, I participated in the same micro-aggressions that the SPU Coalition is currently protesting against. I don’t think this website is necessarily the place for white people confessions, so please feel free to remove this story if its taking up too much room, but I offer this story as an example of why I feel that the changes which the SPU Coalition of Justice is calling for are so important.

At the beginning of my freshman year, my roommate was a young African American student. We were very nice to each other, but never really got close. I assumed it was because we didn’t have much in common. I never considered that part of the problem was my own discomfort. I had never had a black friend before.

In an effort to engage with my roommate, I invited her to come see a play with me that the SPU Theatre department was putting on. The play was a satire about the hypocrisy of America and one of the topics was racism. I didn’t prepare my roommate for this. I didn’t even consider it. She found the play incredibly upsetting and I had no idea why. She was too polite to say anything about it to me. I could sense something was wrong, but was too scared to ask. We never talked about it. She was so upset that she wrote her parents about it. They came up to talk to the theatre department about it, but I didn’t hear this until much later.

My roommate didn’t stay at SPU. I don’t know all the reasons that went into her choice to transfer to another school, but I think that some of them had to do with the fact that she did not feel welcome. There were so few people at SPU who could identify with her story.

It is because of experiences like this that I was so proud of SPU when the John Perkins Center was created. I was so glad when I read about the Reconciliation Minor in the theology department. And I am so grateful to the SPU Coalition for Justice for pushing our community even beyond these measures to take steps to address cultural insensitivity in both faculty and students. How amazing would it be if every student, staff & faculty member had the tools to engage with other people’s stories?! If they had the training to change the cultural trends of white privilege that still invade the campus and to be truly, radically counter cultural–so that no student of color would feel unwelcome or unvalued. How I wish I had those tools when I was a freshman.

I am proud to be an alumnus of SPU. I am proud of you all for addressing this issues with courage. Thank you for calling our community to live fully into our mission to “change the world.”

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