As I write this update, our Boston campus is relatively quiet, with the spring semester completed and the buzz of tourists enjoying the beautiful weather and historic sites. This calm follows a tumultuous two months at Emerson and on college campuses throughout the country, during which we experienced protests, disruptions, arrests, and passionate reactions from community members.
It has been a challenging time in the world, and in higher education. At Emerson, we have done our best to maintain institutional neutrality and hold our community together during this period of deep division. It has not been easy. We have much work ahead as we seek to bring all Emersonians back together toward our shared vision and values.
Emerson has long valued civic activism through protest, and we respect our students’ right to raise their voices to support their beliefs and aspirations. We also have a fundamental commitment to safety, civil discourse, and mutual respect, and these values have often been in conflict as events have unfolded in recent months. Balancing these competing commitments has been extraordinarily difficult at times, and the protests and arrests have resulted in intense reactions from alumni who have reached out to share their concerns. Some expressed that the College needs to do more to support the protestors and their cause.
Others said the College has done too much to support the protestors and not done enough to protect those who feel harmed or intimidated by the protestors’ actions. Much like the feelings of many on our campus, our alumni hold heartfelt beliefs reflecting diverse perspectives.
As we prepare for the fall semester, we will apply the many lessons we learned this past spring as we seek to appropriately balance freedom of speech and community safety. We will continue to support our students’ right to protest, but we will fully enforce appropriate limits to prevent campus disruptions. We will continue to advocate for civil dialogue, discourse, and difficult conversations but will not support hateful rhetoric or intimidation targeted at specific individuals or groups. We will strengthen our communication with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents, and we will do our best to use these engagements to bring us back together as a community around the common beliefs that bind us.
As Emersonians, we profoundly believe in the transformational power of the arts, communication, creativity, and dialogue to advance society and improve the world. We celebrate the power of finding and raising one’s voice through monologue, dialogue, speech, song, or protest. We believe in the power of civil discourse, emphasizing the word civil. These shared beliefs reflect the foundation of our past, and they are the key to our collective future.
Emerson is unique, creative, and strong, and I am proud to be an Emersonian.
Jay M. Bernhardt
President
