Clarification Appended
Students and administrators at George Fox University in Newburg, Ore., were outraged after four students hung a cardboard cutout of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama from a tree two weeks ago, an act that also spurred discussion among members of the AU campus community.
Administrators of the small Quaker university held a campus-wide meeting Sept. 24, during which President Robin Baker condemned the actions of the four students and said they would be appropriately punished.
"We want you to know that what happened yesterday is not proper dialogue on our campus and we will not tolerate such displays," Baker said, in a speech that was also broadcast online. "We value everyone created in the image of God because we live by the words and model the actions of Jesus."
Attached to the cardboard cutout was a sign that read "Act Six Reject," referring to a GFU scholarship to attract more minority applicants.
Historically, the university struggled to represent a variety of diverse backgrounds, Baker said during his speech. GFU offered full-ride scholarships for the last two years to Portland students who demonstrated leadership and were an underrepresented minority, according to the Act Six Web site.
This year, 25 percent of GFU's enrolled students came from diverse backgrounds, the highest number ever at the university, according to Baker.
"Just because someone does something outrageous doesn't mean it's representative of the rest of the population," said SOC professor Leonard Steinhorn, who teaches the class Election 2008. "This is the single most inclusive and diverse generation in the nation's history."
Thirteen percent of AU's newly enrolled students this year came from diverse backgrounds, according to collegeboard.com. However, 17 percent of enrolled freshmen at AU do not report their ethnicities, compared to 5 percent at GFU.
Marie Poole, vice president of the Catholic Student Association, said she sees no justification for the GFU incident.
"Catholicism is about the love of God and your fellow man," she said. "This action defies all that Catholics believe in because it is an act symbolizing hatred."
One way for AU to prevent a similar incident would be to provide students with forums for communication about diversity, according to Bill DeBaun, director of the Kennedy Political Union and a senior in the School of Public Affairs.
"I think AU has a diverse campus," he said. "But in discussion of diversity we need to look past race and ethnicity and include diversities of experience-such as socioeconomic and religious diversity."
DeBaun also said instead of a punishment handed down by administrators, the four GFU students should face a judicial hearing organized by their peers.
GFU administrators said in a public statement Sept. 30 that disciplinary measures against the students would include "up to and including long-term suspension from the university."
"It's kind of ironic because if they had more minorities at [GFU], students could relate better to people different than them," said Amanda Hayes, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. "I can see hatred for the other political party getting out of hand here, but not in a racial context. I can't imagine an incident against a liberal, Democratic president."
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
Clarification: Catholic Student Association Vice President Marie Poole's quote was originally included in this story because The Eagle had incorrectly reported that George Fox University was a Catholic institution, rather than Quaker. The Eagle regrets the error.
