June 4, 2020

11:56 a.m.

Although I sent a joint message this morning with Dr. MacDonald-Dennis, I want to share additional thoughts as
they relate specifically to my White colleagues and students.

For more than a week we have all lived with the latest incident of institutionalized racism—the murder of George
Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police department. Mr. Floyd’s death is another expression of the
centuries-long, American tradition of injustice and oppression of the African American Community. As I stated in
the virtual Town Hall meetings for students and faculty/staff on June 1st and again this morning with prospective
students and families, the subsequent protests, rallies, and demonstrations are intended as another effort to raise
our collective consciousness about violence against people of color and to say “Enough!”

Although Mr. Floyd’s murder happened far away from MCLA, as have the murders of Eric Garner, Bettie Jones,
Tamir Rice, and Philando Castile, and too many others, it does not mean that racism doesn’t exist here at MCLA. In
fact, after the student town hall meeting this week I received e-mails from students telling me of incidents of
racism they had been exposed to here. These are not the first time students or colleagues have written to me
about such incidents. These past communications have resulted in changes at MCLA, but not enough to create a
climate of equity and inclusion.

Every time I receive an e-mail or phone call from a student or a colleague expressing their frustrations, anger, and
fear regarding a racist incident they had at MCLA, I get a knot in my stomach and my emotions run between anger
about the incident, fear that it effects other students/colleagues, confusion over how to best address it, and
discomfort that I may have contributed to the experience in some way. But this anxiety pales in comparison to
what our students and colleagues feel whenever they are confronted with an incident of racism or bias and when
we White people ask them to help us understand what to do. I hope we now all realize with the murder of Mr.
Floyd that the Black and Brown communities have been telling us what to do for years with the spilling of their
blood and the taking of their last breath by the White community.

Time is past due for more White Allies to step forward and begin to eradicate the practice and the culture of
racism at MCLA. I know this message probably makes you uncomfortable and perhaps even angry—I hope it
does. I want you to share in my discomfort and anger over the ways we have mis-treated, either directly or
indirectly, people of color at MCLA. It is only when we get uncomfortable that change will happen.

Black Lives Matter (Brown lives, too) because for so long American society has told them they haven’t
mattered. But they do and we need to demonstrate that. If you believe All Lives Matter, you have to support
Black Lives Matter. In my early career I worked with Catholic communities focused on serving the poor. All of this
work for social justice was grounded in the Church Doctrine of exercising a “Preferential Option for the Poor.” No
one questioned what that meant. No one outwardly resisted that ideal. No one disagreed with the idea that
“poor lives mattered.” So why is it so difficult for us today to agree and to say that Black Lives Matter? They
DO!!!!! And the sooner we can understand and embrace at MCLA that “Doctrine of Black Lives Matter,” the
sooner the lives of our Black and Brown friends, family members, colleagues, and students will improve.

This is going to take long, hard work to overcome the deep roots of racism in our society. But the work MUST
proceed. As the MCLA community begins to re-populate campus in July, I am asking you to return with a new
awareness about what needs to be done. I am asking you to become a White Ally. I strongly encourage you to
read the article “4 Steps that I and Other White People Can Take to Fight Racism” as a beginning to making yourself
more aware of racism and how to become a White Ally.

Most importantly, I want you to understand that I know we can prevail over racism. The beginning of that victory
is rooted in a willingness to think and act in such a way that we express our awareness, appreciation, and
understanding of how people of color enrich our community and our lives.

Let’s begin.

J. Birge