Chatham University President Rhonda Phillips recently sent an email to students, staff and faculty addressing how President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders would impact the University.
In the message, Dr. Phillips mainly focused on the Trump administration’s suspension of funding to federal agencies (which has since been rescinded). Dr. Phillips addressed concerns regarding access to student aid programs and that the University was closely monitoring these developments. However, Dr. Phillips did not sufficiently comment on legislation and rhetoric coming from the government that would affect Chatham’s population of women, immigrants, queer people and other marginalized groups. Therefore, it appears that the responsibility to uphold Chatham’s values has fallen to our students, staff and faculty due to current lackluster administrative support.
In the email, Dr. Phillips briefly spoke on the topic of immigration status, stating it is, “very much a concern.” This response is wholly insufficient in addressing the hateful messaging of the federal government and the tangible danger facing our immigrant communities. Instead of providing resources, either on campus or within the city, for our immigrant students, Dr. Phillips brushed over the question of immigration in an email intended to address student concerns and provide reassurance and information.
What would the University do if ICE agents appeared on campus? What has the University done to inform immigrant students, staff and faculty of the rights they have and the actions they can take in the face of state violence? Dr. Phillips, and the University administration as a whole, have not provided answers to these pressing questions that will increasingly affect our campus community’s most vulnerable.
Despite only receiving a passing mention, Dr. Phillips at least touched on the question of immigration status, but the same cannot be said for the problems facing Chatham’s community of queer students. There was not a single mention of the attempts of the Trump administration to erase recognition of the existence of nonbinary people or deny the right to gender-affirming care for transgender people.
If the administration had any interest in upholding Chatham University’s values, it would not remain silent about the concerns of groups that have played an instrumental role in molding the University’s contemporary identity. Gender equity, an integral value of the school, cannot be limited to the cisnormative binary that denies transgender and nonbinary students of their rights to autonomy and self-expression. The administration’s lack of proper attention to this important, even existential, matter for many of our students shows a clear disconnect with the student body.
In contrast to the position, or lack thereof, of the University administration, a group of Chatham faculty has recently released an open letter to students that does a far better job at addressing issues related to queer identity, stating clearly and without mincing words that we are living in “… a time when trans and nonbinary individuals face new legal and social threats,” providing unambiguous support for the queer student population.
The last concern regarding administrative statements about recent federal legislation is perhaps the most egregious considering Chatham’s history as an all-women’s college: that of women’s rights and reproductive autonomy. As anti-abortion rhetoric dominates the halls of congress and the contents of executive actions, the Chatham administration has not been as vocal as it should be in standing up for the rights of women and other groups affected by restrictions on bodily autonomy. This important activism is instead being led by student groups, such as the Chatham Feminist Coalition or the Planned Parenthood Generation Action at Chatham. The very top stratum of the University, and as such those with the most responsibility to do so, has failed to uphold Chatham’s values.
But where does this mindset of inaction come from? In a recent Communiqué story, Chatham Board of Trustees Chair Kent McElhatten said,“We’ve done some research, and that is not customary,” on the topic of current students making up a part of the board. If the administration limits itself to what is “customary,” it will end up stuck in a cycle of complacency, unwilling to speak up for those most harmed by oppressive structures, unwilling to embody and uphold the values that have made Chatham what it is. I strongly hope that all those in the administration will reflect on their silence in the face of an increasingly hostile society for our most marginalized and will alter their ways accordingly.
