Springing forth with new resolve
Beacon Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Editorial
At issue: The Emerson community's action on House and Desir's behalf.
Our view: We ought to be proud of our progress, but there is much more to do.
In autumn, this page lauded the resilience of the Emerson community in the wake of a racial slur being scrawled on a student's dormitory door. Students, faculty members and the administration swiftly and forcefully denounced the hateful graffiti and, in so doing, sent a powerful message: Discrimination is not welcome here, and we will rally around its victims.
In winter, this page devoted many words to decrying this college's patently prejudicial history in deciding whether to tenure minority professors. Beacon reporter Gabrielle Dunn has spent months exposing the injustice. This year, Professors Roger House and Pierre Desir, were unjustly denied tenure because, we believe, they are black. The problem is by no means new. Professors Mike Brown and Claire Andrade-Watkins won lawsuits alleging the same fate had befallen them in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively. In writing about the issue, we also encouraged students, faculty and the administration to action.
Now, late or not, spring has come back to Boston and unleashed its full restorative powers upon us. As it has, the Emerson community has rallied around the professors. The message-in interviews, poll results, petitions, op-eds, letters to the editor, speeches, public statements and formal resolutions-is loud and clear: Discrimination is not welcome at Emerson, and we will not stand for it.
As journalists, we are inspired by the sheer volume of political speech, the kind protected by the First Amendment. We believe healthy debate is an absolute good, and that Emerson's marketplace of ideas has been enriched by every student, professor and outside observer who has expressed their feelings about how the college grants tenure.
The work, however, is not done, and we cannot let summer wither our resolve.
Students, sign Emerson Peace and Social Justice's petition demanding the professors' reinstatement; send letters to The Beacon's e-mail (printed below), which we will run online; e-mail President Liebergott and ask her to reconsider her denial of their tenure. We, again, strongly urge her and the Board of Trustees to do so. And ask your parents, who hold the power of Emerson's purse, to write letters as well.
Our view: We ought to be proud of our progress, but there is much more to do.
In autumn, this page lauded the resilience of the Emerson community in the wake of a racial slur being scrawled on a student's dormitory door. Students, faculty members and the administration swiftly and forcefully denounced the hateful graffiti and, in so doing, sent a powerful message: Discrimination is not welcome here, and we will rally around its victims.
In winter, this page devoted many words to decrying this college's patently prejudicial history in deciding whether to tenure minority professors. Beacon reporter Gabrielle Dunn has spent months exposing the injustice. This year, Professors Roger House and Pierre Desir, were unjustly denied tenure because, we believe, they are black. The problem is by no means new. Professors Mike Brown and Claire Andrade-Watkins won lawsuits alleging the same fate had befallen them in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively. In writing about the issue, we also encouraged students, faculty and the administration to action.
Now, late or not, spring has come back to Boston and unleashed its full restorative powers upon us. As it has, the Emerson community has rallied around the professors. The message-in interviews, poll results, petitions, op-eds, letters to the editor, speeches, public statements and formal resolutions-is loud and clear: Discrimination is not welcome at Emerson, and we will not stand for it.
As journalists, we are inspired by the sheer volume of political speech, the kind protected by the First Amendment. We believe healthy debate is an absolute good, and that Emerson's marketplace of ideas has been enriched by every student, professor and outside observer who has expressed their feelings about how the college grants tenure.
The work, however, is not done, and we cannot let summer wither our resolve.
Students, sign Emerson Peace and Social Justice's petition demanding the professors' reinstatement; send letters to The Beacon's e-mail (printed below), which we will run online; e-mail President Liebergott and ask her to reconsider her denial of their tenure. We, again, strongly urge her and the Board of Trustees to do so. And ask your parents, who hold the power of Emerson's purse, to write letters as well.
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