My Thinking on Issuing Institutional Statements

Jan. 9, 2024

I lament that the news is rife with social conditions, events and actions that grieve and affect our Whitworth community. Deeply so. Whether terrorism, natural disasters, racism and bigotry, warfare, or social and political strife, it seems to me that suffering touches members of our community nearly every day. There is enough historical evidence to inform us, regrettably, that such immense difficulties will persist even as we long for a better world and even as Whitworth equips graduates who can and will make a difference.

I have concluded that external events impact members of our community often enough that I could have good reasons to issue statements every week. In response to external news events, I weigh whether to issue a message to the campus community or to a broader audience, either speaking for myself or on behalf of the university.

To date, I have written four messages to a broader audience that I believe qualify as institutional positional statements, those that begin with "Whitworth" or "The university." These statements addressed the fall 2022 discovery of racially restricted covenants on property owned and sold by the university in 1942; the June 2023 board of trustees decision on the university's hiring policy language; a Spokesman-Review essay on the same subject; and the United States Supreme Court decision related to affirmative action and college admissions.

In each case above, the statements were specific to university policies, practices and actions and had significant institutional ramifications. As president, I have communicated much more often to students, staff, faculty, trustees and other constituents through internal communication channels about things that, in my judgment, do not warrant externally facing institutional positional statements. I intend to continue with this differentiated approach going forward, only issuing institutional statements on a limited basis.

While understanding, and respecting, that reasonable and well-intentioned people will disagree with me and that other university presidents may operate differently, please allow me to explain my thinking:

• Within reasonable constraints on lengths for institutional statements, it can be difficult to do justice to the complexities and nuances of some issues. In other cases, the things about which to speak against are so obvious and incontestable that a statement can come across as box-checking or performative.
• Given the volume of real issues and incidents that affect our community, we find ourselves having to make arbitrary decisions about which issues warrant institutional statements. And in some cases, an institutional statement can do as much harm as good. In the wake of most major events involving tragedies or injustices, some organizations issue public statements. Most do not. The absence of an institutional statement should not be viewed as complicity in the offense and does not indicate a lack of concern.
• At the time of releasing a statement, information about an issue may be incomplete or in flux. New information might require a revised statement, an apology for a previous statement, or ongoing statements as a situation evolves. In short, a cycle of statements is unlikely to illuminate or ameliorate the issue.
• While major external news events may not directly affect university policy or operations, they often affect individual members of our community. We communicate with these individuals through personal channels that are more effective and appropriate than institutional statements.
• Institutional positions on some issues can stifle the educational discussions and disagreements that should take place in an academic community. As stated in Whitworth's Statement on Freedom of Expression and Civil Discourse: "We support free expression so that members of our community may enter honestly, courageously and even joyfully into disagreements and debates about difficult questions and difficult ideas. That kind of engagement is integral to our mission of seeking the truth for the sake of the world's flourishing and God's glory."
• About 30 years ago, we began describing Whitworth at its very best as occupying a "narrow ridge" in the higher education landscape – flanked on one side by schools that limit discussion or perspectives on certain issues and on the other side by schools that leave no place for Christian faith in the pursuit of truth. This "narrow ridge" metaphor calls Whitworth to be one of the most "free" places in higher education as we ask challenging questions, engage with diverse perspectives and lean into vigorous discussion in the fearless pursuit of truth wherever it can be found. Over at least the last decade, though, I have found myself in conversations with longtime Whitworth friends, colleagues and supporters who hold a sincere affection for that "narrow ridge" ideal while also communicating, at times, that Whitworth should vacate the ridge on certain subjects, adopt a particular point of view, and issue a public statement in support of that view. We have resisted doing so, as that might undermine the educational opportunities available to our students, including students who share these constituents' viewpoints and would benefit from being challenged to think hard about what they believe and why they believe it.

Please know that even without university statements, we are not silent on difficult matters. I am grateful for how our community pours out Christ's love and activates in response to local and world events. Our professors facilitate classroom discussions. We host speakers, panels and forums, helping to educate the university and broader communities. Our faculty and staff mobilize in outreach to those affected through phone calls, emails, in-person counseling and mentoring. Our student life and campus ministry staffs make space in residence halls and the chapel to gather, to discuss and to pray. These actions are integral to how we function as the Whitworth community and thus not worthy of a press release.

I realize that people may disagree on when a public university statement is warranted. I understand. In that spirit, I welcome your prayers for wisdom, discernment and grace as I, along with my good colleagues, navigate those decisions.