A recent “MLK Day party” put on by a few students at Tarleton State University and a “blackface video” posted by a former Texas A&M University student have brought shame and disappointment to the entire Texas A&M System, our leadership and our individual universities.The defense of these incidents has been muted and the apologies have been profuse, but these hurtful actions by a few are a stark reminder that racism and insensitivity are still present in 21st century America. These actions are not just insensitive; they are demeaning and mean-spirited. I refuse to accept the notion that the incidents were “just kids being kids.” I refuse to accept such behavior under the guise of freedom of speech. We are blessed to have freedom of speech in this country, but this freedom also carries a responsibility to think before we speak or act.
These events are a reflection of our failures as parents, as educators and as humans. They are a reflection of our failure to learn and our failure to teach our children the difference between right and wrong. I have heard people explain the need for sensitivity to others’ feelings in terms of “political correctness.” The very use of that term is an admission that one cannot differentiate right from wrong. Sensitivity to the feelings of others is right.
My primary concern is that for all we are doing to reach the minds of young people, we are failing in our duty to first reach down into their hearts and develop their characters. What is in their hearts that would lead them to think that their actions were all right, or much less, funny? “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
We can teach our students how to succeed in the workforce, but we must do more to teach them how to be caring, fair-minded citizens. We must also reach their hearts. We must teach and we must learn to think before we speak or act, and to be thankful that we are not all the same. We must all remember that higher education is a privilege, not a right. Abuse of this privilege will not go unnoticed and is not without consequences.
As representatives of higher education, we must teach our students to respect cultural and racial differences. But above all, we must teach the next generation to value every individual’s feelings. In conjunction with the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board and our university presidents, I will establish a systemwide diversity council charged with making recommendations for changes needed in the code of conduct at each of our campuses.
I’d like to thank the students, professors and administrators at Texas A&M and Tarleton State for their quick reactions to these recent events. Let’s work as individuals, as university communities and as a university system to promote kindness and respect in our corner of the world.
I urge each of you to continue to do, say and think about those things that are needed to continue the healing.