Oracle Online

There is an interest group that has gained increasingly disproportionate leverage at Hamline, and it is a source of concern. I call this group the “Diversity Cabal,” and it is not meant as an honor. It is representative of a growing and troubling phenomenon of closed minds and discrimination that drips with irony. In no other arena have I seen a small interest group yield such power with a single bid of no confidence. It is an unhealthy concentration of power, no matter what the agenda.

Perhaps that is because the Diversity Cabal has won influence at Hamline not through a battle of ideas, but tactics of intimidation and manipulation. They fight unfairly, and in a way that runs counter to many of their own ideals. In this most recent case a few members of the faculty were able to bring an entire faculty search to a standstill, effectively ending it, because they felt a specific candidate of color was not given proper consideration. I would appreciate seeing the evidence to back their feelings.

The search committee was exceptional in their competence and qualification to deal with the complexities of comprehensive diversity, and the process yielded strong candidates. The finalists were diverse, alas they lacked that specific formčcolorčand this was the Cabal’s concern. Are we really that unsophisticated?

Students of color in some pockets of the CLA are taught to hate Hamline for lying to them, for covering up racial injustice, and for refusing to adequately support students and faculty of color. In other words, issues that American society is struggling to negotiate. An example can be seen in the Oracle’s Mar. 13 coverage of a reception for students of color that President Hanson hosted at her home. A question was raised about whether the University’s fine of $150 for alcohol consumption in the dorms is “targeted at students of color.” So much for personal integrity and accountability. To her credit, President Hanson has done a great job at fielding and communicating her views, and those of the university, to these sorts of loaded questions. Certainly it is for the better that she engages.

Let it be said and understood that this group does not seek to, or practically so, represent other forms of diversity such as religion, politics, class, ethnicity, or alternative interpretations of multiculturalism unless they are tied to color. They draw lines, and establish territorial domain regarding campus diversity.

The Cabal’s use of questionable tactics is not new. In 2004 I was deliberately misrepresented and misquoted to the Oracle by a first-year who was pressured to brand me as a chauvinist and a racist. I spent the next year swatting attacks from students who had been fed talking points and let loose to attack those who do not adhere directly to their views.
In the 2004-05 academic year, the undergraduate student body president, an international student, refused to hang an American flag in the HUSC office because “it (was) seen as offensive to some students.” That spring she received the John Wesley service award.

Last year around this time the City Pages ran a cover story about the targeting and denigration of faculty members by the Cabal. In that case a course did not fit an individual’s view of diversity, so the professor was called out as racist and ethno-centric, and subject to methods of public humiliation (though from the onset popular opinion was against the antagonists). One class on Racial and Cultural Minorities, according to one of the students, was “too Jewish.”

Now we have this situation with the search process. I have spoken with Dean Delgado and have faith in his perspective. Likewise, Hamline as an institution is taking the right steps. The strategic planning process has been structured in such a way as to approach diversity from a variety of angles, and all voices are at the table. Most importantly, we are paying attention to the demographic shifts that the Midwest will be experiencing in coming years.

Yet the cancellation of the search raises questions. What faculty or staff will want to participate in a faculty, staff, coach, or administrative search process if only to be subject to relatively baseless accusations of racism? What does this say about the health of our academic environment?

Hamline is a regional school, and we are representative of regional racial demographics. In this regard there is no immediate, appalling, injustice taking place. This is not to say we have no need for concern about increasing the ratio, ensuring a supportive environment for cultural exchange, or future enrollment. Indeed there is no doubt that Hamline will benefit from a greater number of high achieving students of color, especially in the hard sciences. As racial demographics (dramatically) shift in the next decade we will need to pay close attention, and the university is. But this is not the only form of diversity. The Cabal’s strong-arm tactics pitching it as such are counter-productive and dishonest.

Every small Liberal Arts college struggles with territorial tendencies among members of their community, and Hamline is no different. One of our strengths for the future will be an awareness of the value of difference in culture, academics, and social and political philosophies, as well as a broad appreciation of service and social justice. Let us ensure this is not hijacked by a group whose aim is to polarize, capitalizing off the dissonance.