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You are here: Home / Opinion / Letters to the Editor / Buller’s letter to the editor represents desire for inclusion

Buller’s letter to the editor represents desire for inclusion

April 25, 2019 by Special Contributor

–by Jonathan Camp, Cliff Barbarick, Orneita Burton, Kelly Elliott, Doug Foster, Suzie Macaluso, Victor McCracken, Ronald J. (Ron) Morgan, Dan Morrison, Jerry Andrew Taylor

Carl Spain’s 1960 speech denouncing racist admission policies at Abilene Christian College is now widely celebrated in the ACU community. This seminal moment is enshrined on the photographic timeline in the lobby of Hunter Welcome Center, and it is featured in The ACU Century coffee table book. But Spain wasn’t the only voice calling the university to account. Months before, a group of his students requested a meeting with President Morris to question the racist admission policies and insist on integration of ACC.

Alexandria Buller’s letter to the editor places her in good company. Throughout our history, many of our students have connected deeply with our mission and insist we live up to the best of our Christian ideals. We need to listen to these students and develop a response that institutes meaningful and substantive change. We must welcome the moral clarity they offer because, just like Spain’s students in the 1950s, they are free from the power attachments and status quo pressures that often influence our own discernment.

We applaud ACU’s stated commitment to racial inclusion and cultural competence, as reflected in the third goal of the Strategic Plan. Recent months have seen significant strides. The recently launched Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action is taking bold steps to bridge racial divides. The university provided significant support with the new book, Slavery’s Long Shadow, which was written to supplement the undergraduate survey course in American History and religion. A group of faculty have been working on a Maymester course on Civil Rights that includes a tour through the Deep South. Starting this fall, the History and Global Studies department will offer a new interdisciplinary minor Gender and Multicultural Studies. These efforts are important, but further action is needed.

Alexandria’s letter represents many of our top students who are calling for Kingdom level strides toward inclusion, equity, and cultural competence. We agree with her call to strengthen curriculum with new courses, both in general education and within specific degree plans, which will strengthen the University’s goal for racial and ethnic inclusion and cultural competence for all students. We also call for strategic faculty hires and increased diversity in our administration to support this goal.

Filed Under: Letters to the Editor, Opinion

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You are here: Home / Opinion / Letters to the Editor / Buller’s letter to the editor represents desire for inclusion

Other Opinion:

  • Analyzing the Capitol riots through both lenses

  • To achieve unity, we need to start listening

  • Quality online education requires lecturing and better communication

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acuoptimistThe Optimist@acuoptimist·
10h

"We need to start taking steps toward understanding each other no matter how repulsed we may be initially." Read more from Managing Editor Dillon Daniel below:
https://acuoptimist.com/2021/01/to-achieve-unity-we-need-to-start-listening/

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acuoptimistThe Optimist@acuoptimist·
19 Jan

"Lack of interaction — whether online or in-person — leads to lack of connections between professors and students." Read more from Guest Columnist Morgen Maltby below:
https://acuoptimist.com/2021/01/quality-online-education-requires-lecturing-and-better-communication/

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The Optimist

10 hours ago

The Optimist
"We need to start taking steps toward understanding each other no matter how repulsed we may be initially." Read more from Managing Editor Dillon Daniel below: ...

To achieve unity, we need to start listening - Optimist

acuoptimist.com

There is no question that the current climate among Americans is tense and, as the Capitol Hill and 2020 riots show, even hostile. Although these behaviors have always been present, it seems that the last decade has seen an increase in tribal tendencies. We cling to the ankles of our political candi...
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The Optimist

2 days ago

The Optimist
"Lack of interaction — whether online or in-person — leads to lack of connections between professors and students." Read more from Guest Columnist Morgen Maltby below: ...

Quality online education requires lecturing and better communication - Optimist

acuoptimist.com

With the university handling new forms of teaching in light of COVID-19, many classes have been moved to an online format due to safety for the professors and students. Because of this unexpected transition, fewer guidelines were placed on class procedures. Some professors chose to have weekly Zoom....
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