An Open Letter to Princeton Theological Seminary

This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.

Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!

Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
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Nancy Lammers Gross - Dean of Student Life
Iain R. Torrance - President

I am writing to express my outrage over the fact that Dr. Yolanda Pierce, an esteemed scholar and professor at your seminary, was attacked in a racist flier distributed by students at your campus.

It was an act in support of a vile, racist, hate campaign for these students to distribute this flier under the virtual Ku Klux Klan hood of anonymity.

It is an act of institutional racism for the Princeton Theological Seminary to continue its failure to properly address this orchestrated hate campaign against one of its own professors.

Furthermore, the Seminary's failure thus far to properly address this campaign is also an abomination. Especially for an institution that purports to prepare its students "to serve Jesus Christ in ministries marked by faith, integrity, scholarship, competence, compassion, and joy, equipping them for leadership worldwide in congregations and the larger church, in classrooms and the academy, and in the public arena." [Princeton Theological Seminary Mission Statement]

If proven, engaging in such a hate campaign is surely conduct that should provide the basis for disciplinary action such as suspension or dismissal. Reasonable minds that are untainted by racism recognize that accountability requires much more than silently accepting a few weak, insincere apologies for an outrage of this magnitude.

I am strongly urging the Seminary to follow its own procedures and hold a hearing pursuant to the process described in Section 6.6 of the academic regulations contained within The Princeton Seminary Handbook. [Academic Regulations, Section 6.6 "Procedures Associated with Other Causes," The Princeton Seminary Handbook]

The Seminary needs to follow its own regulations, hold full hearings regarding all of the students involved, and make a decision regarding these students' continued relationship to the Seminary, irrespective of their ethnic or racial backgrounds. This is only fair.

A failure to follow your own regulations would make it abundantly clear that Princeton Theological Seminary has truly lost its way. If the Seminary is unwilling to follow its own rules by conducting a full hearing, I and as many others as I can persuade to join me, will pursue every avenue available to make the public at large, the media, the Seminary's financial supporters, and the entire world aware of the Seminary's depraved indifference toward the racist denigration of Black academics. My outrage is shared by each new person who learns of the Seminary's inaction. There will be accountability.
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Note to Readers:

Apparently, racist students at the Princeton Theological Seminary recently distributed a flier attacking a Black professor named Dr. Yolanda Pierce. Dr. Pierce is an Associate Professor of African American Religion and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. This situation has been described by a Black professor at Princeton University, Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell in one of her blog posts. http://princetonprofs.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-am-having-drink-join-me-if-you-like.html

Rev. Lisa Vazquez, blog host of Black Women, Blow the Trumpet!, has made a call "for those who understand the power of constructive engagement to step forward" and express our displeasure with this example of yet another attack on Black women. http://blackwomenblowthetrumpet.blogspot.com/2008/11/flickering-flame-of-hipster-racism-at.html

I have sent the above letter in response to this call. Silence in response to these sorts of attacks endangers us all. Allowing these sorts of attacks to pass in silence endangers those of us who work in academia. It endangers those of us who are currently students in these institutions. It endangers those Black girls who will grow up to follow our footsteps to attend or work in these institutions.

Without seeing the flier itself, my conscience won't allow me to demand a specific outcome to holding a disciplinary hearing. However, I don't have to see the flier itself, or know all of the intimate details of this situation, to insist that Princeton Theological Seminary follow its own rules and regulations. I am not saying that others are incorrect in calling for the students' suspension or dismissal without having seen the flier. I am simply stating what I feel is appropriate for me.

I know that there will be critiques of this call to respond in the absence of the flier. I know that for some of us, the urge to respond will decrease if we learn that there was a Black student involved in distributing this material. Let me point out a few "real-world" aspects to these sorts of situations.

First of all, people tend to "lawyer up" fairly quickly in these situations. Everybody knows that there is a real possibility of litigation resulting from this. At which point, people will be skittish about further disseminating this material. For any purpose. This also means that there's not going to be a lot of public discussion (if any at all) of this from those who are directly involved.

Second, it doesn't matter if it turns out that the racists were able to find a Black-woman-hating Black male student to participate in this outrage. It doesn't matter if it turns out that they were able to find a self-hating Black female student to participate. This is what sophisticated racists do --- they look for "colored" accomplices as a back-up alibi in case they get caught. They do this so they can falsely claim, "See, it wasn't racist. A Black guy helped with this." It doesn't matter. Everybody involved should be held accountable for their actions, irrespective of their ethnicity or race.

Third, I am willing to give one of my sisters who is a respected educator the benefit of the doubt. If someone of Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell's stature (Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University) is PUBLICLY stating that a Black female colleague was personally attacked in a racist flier distributed on campus, I'm going to give Dr. Harris-Lacewell the benefit of the doubt that something that merits a response occurred.

Finally, those of us who are sincerely interested in protecting Black women from attacks will look for, and find, creative ways to respond to these situations while still honoring our own criteria for response. As I noted above, I won't demand a specific outcome without seeing the flier for myself, but I can and will demand that Princeton Theological Seminary follow its own rules, and treat this situation with the seriousness that it deserves.

Nancy Lammers Gross
Dean of Student Life
Princeton Theological Seminary
210 Templeton Hall
Princeton, NJ 08542
Email: nancy.gross@ptsem.edu
Phone: 609-497-7800

Iain R. Torrance
President
Princeton Theological Seminary
132 Administration Building
Princeton, NJ 08542
Email: president@ptsem.edu
Phone: 609-497-7800