Mission College Academic Senate

SENATE STATEMENT ON AFTERMATH OF ATTACKS 9/11/01

"As our nation moves through the initial shock of the events of September 11th into the inevitable reactions of anger, fear, and sorrow, our campus community moves with it. Now is the time to evaluate ourselves; how have we been affected, and how are we affecting others?

Our goal as educators is to illuminate, to encourage examination, to foster critical thinking, and to facilitate communication. Our ideal campus is one that promotes a free exchange of ideas begetting understanding, not hatred. Fettered emotion that grows without direction can eventually shatter the very environment it intends to protect.

Events like these can remind us of the racism and hate that lies dormant in our world, waiting for a chance to sprout and flourish. As educators, we have the power - and more importantly, the obligation - to redirect harmful outbursts of retaliation into positive learning and expansion of world view.

Therefore, we owe it to our students, our nation and ourselves to be pro-active in our community by transforming hateful speech or acts into teachable moments that encourage the broadening of mind and soul. The Mission College Academic Senate urges all faculty and staff not to stand idly by, but to seize these moments of change and help our students create a future free of hatred and bigotry.

This is a time when we need to be united to embrace the many colors, cultures, identities, beliefs and appearances that comprise our community, for we are a sum of all of our campus' parts, and to single out one would make us less whole. Too many times in history we have seen the dangers of unchecked and misplaced nationalism; it is important that we recognize our choices and actively state that we, the faculty, staff, and students of Mission College, choose a path of peace, respect, and healing."