Racism has no place at Lehigh.
Many students who gathered at the flagpole early yesterday morning had this stark and clear message printed on their shirts. They are right. Racism has no place in society, and racism unequivocally has no place in our campus community. None.
At the end of February, a picture of a “BORG” container with racially offensive imagery and words at an on-campus fraternity/sorority party was shared on social media. Subsequent hateful and racist comments, posted cowardly and anonymously online, prompted the leaders of Greek organizations to voluntarily suspend social events and begin a conversation about responsibility and accountability. And about culture. This positive step coincided with the start of a university conduct investigation into these incidents. But additional events have compounded the harm felt by many members of our community. Earlier this month, multiple students of color were subjected to racist slurs shouted at them directly by occupants of a car driving through campus. Lehigh University police identified these individuals and, while not associated with the university, they were permanently banned from campus and are facing criminal charges. Just this week, a student reported finding another discarded BORG container off campus on which a racist image was drawn. We are actively looking into the report and gathering information to determine next steps.
These incidents must stop.
To anyone who believes this was simply humor gone awry, I ask you to imagine the weight of walking into a room and feeling immediately judged. Imagine entering a communal space only to find that others assume you don't belong, or that it is somehow acceptable to mock tragic events deeply painful to your community. These moments may be framed as 'meaning no harm,' yet when you are sidelined at a social event or singled out for your differences, they accumulate like small, repeated wounds.
This is about far more than a BORG or a party. This is about our culture and our community.
We cannot accept anything less than a community that truly embraces every one of us, accepts the differences that make each of us who we are, judges us only by our effort and accomplishment, and allows us to know that we truly belong.
At the February 26 Lehigh Student Senate fireside chat, I heard from many of you. Some students expressed outrage, asking what I was going to do to stop racism on campus and how I would hold those responsible accountable to Our Principles of Our Equitable Community. And at the Community Conversation on March 2, the view was raised that the administration got it wrong, that however offensive, the language used is supported by Lehigh’s adoption of the The Chicago Principles.
Let me be clear: Acts of racism are never acceptable on our campus and will not be tolerated. Our adoption of The Chicago Principles is intended to support respectful academic debate and discussion of challenging topics. The principles that embody our support of respectful free expression are not new; they are embedded within, and must live alongside, Our Principles of Our Equitable Community. They do not legitimize acts of racism or hate of any form.
I’ve since heard more perspectives in a recent dinner meeting with leaders of student cultural organizations and other university administrators, in informal conversation and at events across campus. Students have raised concerns about student orientation, the specific training that we require, Greek life and accountability. The Office of Student Involvement hosted a Town Hall last week with fraternities, sororities and general student body attendees, which offered additional viewpoints.
As president, I unequivocally condemn racism and intolerance at Lehigh, and I am committing to taking steps to make Lehigh a place where everyone truly belongs.
Two weeks ago I charged a working group of university leaders, led by Vice President of Student Affairs Katherine Lavinder, to develop actions to stop racist incidents on campus. The working group includes Provost Nathan Urban, Vice President of Equity and Community Donald Outing, Deputy Vice President of Equity and Community Henry Odi, and General Counsel Matt Lahey. The group will engage students and student leaders as critical collaborators in this work.
The four areas the group will focus on, identified in our recent conversations about these incidents with student leaders, include: Developing a clearer articulation of accountability, responsibility and consequences; reviewing and improving education, orientation and training to make explicitly clear that racism has no place at Lehigh; strengthening community through engagement; and clarifying how Our Principles of Our Equitable Community and the adoption of The Chicago Principles work together to foster respectful dialogue on campus. This work began over spring break, and the team will communicate specific actions to the campus within the next week.
In the wake of these incidents, I have observed an intense and rapid escalation of commentary across campus and on social media. Our institution remains a place for discourse, and yet recent efforts to express perspective and challenge each other have strayed from constructive dialogue and devolved into a space that is divisive and, for many, deeply harmful. This behavior stands in direct opposition to our principles and our mission as a leading research institution that prides itself on being a home for students, faculty and staff from 49 states, 100 different nations, and a neighbor to a community with a rich, diverse immigrant history.
We have work to do.
We are strongest and most successful when we celebrate our differences and harness the full range of our perspectives and experiences in support of inquiry, growth and innovation. Ask yourself what community you want to be part of. Let Lehigh be a place where we treat one another with dignity and respect, even—and especially—when we disagree. There is far too much divisiveness in the world. We must be a place that shows others that we will not tolerate hate and that we will be a community that respects, values and includes all.
Joseph J. Helble '82
President
