President Chabotar's Op-ed, "College Student Behavior and the Bill of Rights"
The following op-ed article was submitted by President Kent Chabotar to local and other newspapers, and published starting on Wednesday, Feb. 7, sometimes in edited form.
Guilford College is founded on the Quaker values of peace, diversity, equality, justice and community. They hardly inure us from violence that occasionally disrupts our society. Events of early January 20 drove that point home harshly when students were caught up in a physical and verbal brawl in a residence hall. As we painstakingly use our campus judicial process to determine what happened, a spotlight is on us. People in the community, and indeed, the world, want to see how this college with such strong core values deals with a fight that may or may not have been a hate crime. While we search for truth in the Quaker tradition, let me tell you what I think.
Quite naturally, news coverage and public discussion have stirred strong emotions among our students and the wider community. Some want action and they want it now. People are choosing sides and placing blame without knowing what actually happened. Impassioned debates are occurring in a factual vacuum. My staff and I have overheard students discussing the fight. In one exchange, one student said to the other, “How do you know? You weren’t there. I was!” None of us should jump to conclusions. Sadly, many have. I encourage everyone not to indict or convict individuals or groups based on the morning newspaper or the evening news. Reporters have to report and we accept that, but think about it, journalists can’t know the truth when we ourselves who are investigating don’t know it yet. All of us should take a breath, pause, and wait for the outcome of the probes.
Ever since the fight, the term “hate crime” has been thrown about. We should remember that such a term refers to motives and not just actions. Let me give you a long sentence that goes to the heart of the matter: By law, individuals with different religious, racial, and other characteristics can fight and even use execrable words and the incident would not constitute a hate crime unless motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of that “other” group. It’s more than semantics. A “hate crime” is subject to wholly different penalties and, as we discovered last week with the FBI investigation, can involve more than just the local criminal justice system. It can also motivate further retaliation, as might have happened last weekend when three off-campus males went into a residence hall looking for football players involved in the brawl but who had been moved off campus, at my direction, to avoid just such threats. Make no mistake, if the criminal justice system, with due process ensured by the Fourteenth Amendment, concludes it was a hate crime, we will call it a hate crime and proceed accordingly. But hate crime or no, Guilford simply will not tolerate any type of violence or verbal abuse by members of its community.
As a professor of political science, I have been disappointed at how quickly many people have disregarded the protections ensured by the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Amendment establishes a "due process of law." The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no state shall deny "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Let me emphasize the terms equal, any person, and due process here, for any rush to judgment would deny the basic rights of all of those involved. I mentioned these protections to one off-campus critic who responded, “Who cares? It’s obvious they’re guilty.” Let me alert our students that the Political Science Department is considering reinstituting a course in Constitutional Law. I like the idea.
This troubling incident is also a teachable moment in terms of Quaker practice. The inclination towards preemptory judgment leads me to Query #17 from the Quaker Life and Practice Book of Christian Discipline, which reads: “Do not allow the strength of your convictions to betray you into making statements or allegations that are unfair or untrue. Think it possible that you may be mistaken.” It is so easy to be mistaken when strong emotions are felt. We can use this incident as a reminder of the measured processes that have long been established at Guilford to deal with such conflicts and questions as the ones that have arisen over the last few weeks.
After the Battle of Guilford Courthouse during the American Revolution, the Quakers in the area treated the wounded of both sides. Today Guilford College is doing the same for those embroiled in the violence of last month. Some students involved sustained injuries, for which the president sorrows. I am a teacher first and an administrator second. Conversations are occurring all over campus about diversity, cultural awareness, violence, athletics, and a host of related topics. These astonishing reconciliation efforts deserved as much public attention as the original incident. Unfortunately, they did not get it. Regardless of the outcome of this case, I am determined that the very process the college follows be emblematic of what we stand for. We will maintain our core values. We will seek the truth. We will not rush to judgment. Guilford will come away from this incident stronger.
Feb. 7, 2007