Laurie Patton, wya?

by on October 11, 2017

Posted in: News

Two weeks ago, the Campus published an article detailing the racial profiling of former student (and WRMC DJ) Addis Fouche-Channer by a Public Safety Officer on March 2, after the Charles Murray talk. Last spring, a Judicial Affairs dean ruled that Fouche-Channer was not at Murray’s car, after being presented with statements from friends and a coworker, time-stamped emails and blog posts, and location-tracking wifi logs from the college’s IT department.

Now, the college has reversed its ruling, deciding that it believes both Fouche-Channer and her phone’s location data are lying about her whereabouts that night. Conveniently for the college, this eliminates their culpability in a racial profiling case. The article highlights a disturbing, but not unfamiliar example of the college systemically marginalizing already marginalized students.

On March 3, President Patton wrote, “Today our community begins the process of addressing the deep and troubling divisions that were on display last night.” So why hasn’t she addressed this issue? Is racial profiling not a serious enough example of Middlebury’s deep and troubling divisions? Let’s look at some more quotes from our President. In the same email, she wrote:

“I extend my sincerest apologies to everyone who came in good faith to participate in a serious discussion, and particularly to Mr. Murray and Prof. Stanger for the way they were treated during the event and, especially, afterward.”

Is Addis deserving of an apology for how she was treated? Which of the college’s conflicting rulings does the President side with? Does she agree that Addis is lying? On March 6, she wrote:

“There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another.  We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them…”

Is staying silent about racial profiling what hard community-building work looks like? Is it what accountability looks like? Given that she has publicly defended Murray’s speech and the college discipline process, the President’s silence says a lot about which values of the school’s are being affirmed. If she can’t be bothered to even address this, how can students expect any tangible action toward ameliorating campus divisions?

“I look forward to the many conversations we can and must have over the coming months.

Cool. How about you start by adding your voice to this one? And if you choose to do that through an op-ed, make sure this one’s not hidden behind another Wall Street Journal paywall.

7 Responses to “Laurie Patton, wya?”

  1. max says:

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  2. max says:

    This is the third my comment has been deleted. Posting below:

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  3. max says:

    This keeps on getting deleted so I’m posting it twice.

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  4. max says:

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  5. max says:

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  6. max says:

    I’m currently in my senior year of high school. I have to say that I’ve been excited at the prospect of studying at Middlebury for some time now. Both my mother and father graduated from there, and it is where they met. I have to say this though – after researching into the Charles Murray issue, I’m confounded by how easily those who let Murray speak and defended were deceived by the trite discourse of freedom of speech, meritocracy, and universalism that racists like Murray hide behind to make their claims. I thought this was supposed to be an institution of higher education? Certainly the administrators should have the critical thinking skills to see through Murray’s guise.

    What disturbs me more however is the response of the administrators. The complete impunity they exercise while defending Murray and prosecuting students is nothing less than disgusting. This, combined with their simultaneously spouting of hackneyed platitudes as a sort of empty concession to people of color and activists reveals the sort of hollowness undergirding their own performance of a diverse and democratic campus. As a prospective student, this reveals nothing less than the administrations empty and fake commitment to a diverse and democratic learning environment. It is clear that the administration acts in a way which allows for the appearance of a diverse, democratic college environment necessary for attracting more students and $$$, while simultaneously lacking any real fidelity to a diverse and democratic campus (which might scare away $$$ coming from racists and/or other ends of the political spectrum).

    The unadulterated disingenuousness coming from an administration who acts with complete impunity, who is more interested in issuing punitive measures to students than self-accountability, who controls information by publishing a unilateral and completely distorted narrative of the incident in national publications, who racially profiles students, and who then claims that said students are lying when asked by them for justice and accountability on part of being racially profiling bears more of a resemblance to the way state authority was figured during the dictatorships of Chile and Argentina than a modicum of the sort of integrity necessary for democracy.

    In short, I’m disgusted. The backlash I’ve seen towards activists and black students from the Middlebury administration has completely dissolved the fond imagination I had of my parent’s alma-mater. I’ve looked at Middlebury with reverence all my life but reading this cliched and milquetoast statement by an administrator: “There is hard work ahead for all of us: learning to be accountable to one another, and learning to stand in community with one another. We must affirm our shared values and goals and hold each other to them”- I’d laugh at the admin’s complete insincerity and lack of respect for any semblance of accountability or community if it wasn’t so sad.

  7. Sabian Ping Zhu Edouard says:

    nice

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