The Grinnell Community during a Global Crisis
Dear Grinnell alumni and families,
We write in community with you as Grinnellians with the hope that you are in community where you are, with mourning for the anguish that all impacted by the Israel-Hamas war are enduring, and with sorrow for the grief and losses we hold in its wake. We would like to provide you with insights and updates on community at Grinnell College as it has been marked these past several weeks like most campuses in the United States. The multiple identities and experiences present in our College far exceed what a letter can encompass, but we are committed to communicating the efforts and resources that are in place and in development, especially for our students, as we all continue to live and grieve during this awful time.
We advocate for our community, members of which are hurting. Our students have already lived through more upheaval and loss than we would ever want young people to endure and the stress associated with social media gives our students no grace. The messages shared with campus on Oct. 9, Oct. 15, and Nov. 1 have been to support efforts at maintaining community, to connect people to each other – including students to resources – and to assert the principles of human dignity and collective responsibility that are fundamental to a college long-steeped in social justice and activism. These principles guide our response. [Please know that messages to campus are all posted on the Grinnell news site for easy reference].
In maintaining community and supporting our students, we have made statements that mourn the loss of human life, that acknowledge grief, that denounce antisemitism and Islamophobia, and that seek to affirm community and provide support as everyone endures the wrenching tragedy of this time. We maintain that the community and the education that take place at Grinnell – and are vibrant among Grinnell alumni and families – are among the vital hopes for easing pain and bringing peace to all those impacted by this war and its inter-generational trauma.
Efforts and Resources
The call to community exists to honor and safeguard our multiplicity: Grinnell is a diverse and global community. Grinnellians have families in Israel, others in Gaza. Some have lost family members or are suffering the pain of missing relatives who have not been located. Others are in distress over rising antisemitism and Islamophobia. We focus on those community members most deeply affected by a global crisis. We continue to work with all of campus and further communities.
Our campus has been the site of both vigils and demonstrations and is now moving towards dialogue. This is a process that calls for an intentional transition, as entering into these experiences prematurely can itself provoke harm and conflict.
The Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice, which includes both Grinnell’s campus rabbi and campus imam, organized a vigil on campus to mourn the human lives lost and the ongoing violence. With music, and poems from the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai read aloud, the vigil provided respite for Grinnell students and community members, many of whom feel this conflict personally and deeply.
Like many other colleges and universities, Grinnell College has a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a national organization that has garnered media attention. Throughout the three demonstrations and a vigil held thus far by this group, we have been emphasizing with students their responsibilities at the intersection of free speech and collective responsibility. Statements that can cause harm to the identities of fellow students or community members, whether intended as harm or not, have no place at Grinnell. We affirm this foundational value of the College and work to uphold it within educational and conduct processes, as well as within the challenges of social media and misinformation. The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights affirmed responsibilities to multicultural and multiracial communities at the institutional level in a letter to colleges and universities. The language in this letter to U.S. colleges and universities is precise:
“Every student has the right to a learning environment that is free from discrimination. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stands ready to support schools in fulfilling this promise and to ensure every student’s right to learn without discrimination. All students, including students who are or are perceived to be Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian, as well as students who come from, or are perceived to come from, all regions of the world, are entitled to a school environment free from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.”
Grinnell will continue to uphold these rights and to educate against antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and every kind of discrimination and harassment. You can read more about the College's Nondiscrimination Policy and Bias Incident Reporting process – both provide recourse to students with a variety of options for support and we encourage you to refer students to them.
All students on campus have recourse through the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT). We publicize this resource and remind students that they have the option of reporting anonymously or receiving support. Upon receiving a report, members of the BIRT team will work with the appropriate College officials and, when necessary, will refer incidents to appropriate law enforcement agencies. The team’s focus is on meeting with and ensuring that affected individuals and others have access to appropriate resources. In collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the BIRT takes steps to educate community members. Incidents that require restorative or corrective processes or disciplinary action are referred to the appropriate process (e.g. student conduct, human resources, etc.).
Meetings with small groups of students in affinity and other groups continue to provide insights and support, and we are grateful to the dedicated faculty and staff who are in their offices and office hours and other campus spaces with students, always seeking to support them and connect them to resources. We are emphasizing resources because each student is processing and experiencing this tragedy differently, and we are deeply committed to working with students to provide what they need as individuals within our community and within our broken world.
Moving Forward
As the community has continued to process events and reactions, the campus is moving toward creating educational opportunities where individuals can explore the broader context of this heartbreaking conflict, including opportunities for students to understand the history and harm related to antisemitism and Islamophobia. A group of staff and faculty members is in the process of coordinating with students and other campus partners to create a variety of opportunities and spaces of education, reflection, mourning, and action. We are also committed to an increased focus on antisemitism and Islamophobia through the work of our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We are committed to deepening programming for current and future students that addresses discrimination and harassment in all its forms and to making Grinnell a place where all identities can thrive.
If you are wondering if there’s anything you can do, here is what we are striving to do here at Grinnell: take care of yourselves and each other; hold your grief within the love and support of people who care about you; practice compassion and prioritize the humanity in yourself and others; create community and promote peace. In addition to the resources cited above, if you reach out to students or if they reach out to you, please connect them to the Division of Student Affairs, where the Campus Care Team can provide on-site guidance and refer students to appropriate and immediate support resources. Please know that the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice provides faith-based support for students of all religions. We invite you to refer fellow alumni with questions to Alumni Relations.
The world is convulsing again for a generation of students that has already been through so much – please keep them in your hearts.
With gratitude for your support and hope for your well-being,
Anne F. Harris
President
Michael Kahn ’74
Chair of the Board