Students and faculty walk out in protest over changes to DEI
Photo by Emily Paris, Photo Editor
On early Monday, March 17, at 11:30 a.m., students and faculty walked out of classes and gathered at Memorial Lawn. The reason: protecting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Chapman.
After students found out that Chapman placed Provost Norma Bouchard and Vice President of DEI Reg Stewart on a leave of absence without explanation, over 30 campus clubs organized a rapid response in the form of a walkout. The clubs ranged from cultural clubs to performing arts clubs, all supporting the same causes.
“This is proof that students are afraid. Students are afraid and scared and what the hell is Chapman doing to ease our fears? Nothing,” said junior Scott Tucker, a representative of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), during his speech at the walkout. “Chapman University, and so-called free speech advocate Daniele Struppa, (are) doing nothing to make Chapman students feel protected.”
The walkout started on Memorial, where many clubs had representatives who gave speeches.
During the speeches, Dean of Students Jerry Price approached the students who were using a megaphone to remind them that Chapman policies prohibit the use of amplified sound, but the students elected to ignore him.
Photo by Emily Paris, Photo Editor
“Students violated Chapman policy by utilizing amplified sound during class time,” said Price. “While they were in violation of policy, it is too early to say we are taking disciplinary action.”
After the speeches at Memorial, the protesters marched through campus, holding signs and chanting.
One of the main reasons for the gathering was the fact that the decision to place Bouchard and Stewart on leave was not announced to students. The original email, which notified faculty and staff, was not sent to the student population; most students first learned of the events from The Panther’s reports.
On their list of demands for the walkout, the first one was to “protect the DEI office,” as well as to “commit to transparency” when it comes to changes to DEI leadership and policies.
“The fact that they decided not to notify the students about this is absolutely absurd,” said a student who was present at the walkout, but asked to remain anonymous. “It makes us feel disrespected and neglected, and that our voices aren't heard. So we need to show the president why this is important, and that we will not be silenced.”
The second demand of the walkout was for the university to commit to the preservation of funds and resources for the Cross-Cultural Center (CCC), which could prove increasingly difficult with the Trump administration’s DEI crackdowns.
“I'm here today to encourage Daniele Struppa to stand against federal government overreach to protect his students, (and to) to stand up for different minors and majors such as sociology and our interdisciplinary minors,” said senior sociology major Hailey Bunsold. “I hope (Struppa) hears this message and he chooses not to bow down to President Donald Trump, and he chooses to protect his students and staff. He's rich enough”
In addition to their demands regarding the DEI office at Chapman, the walkout also included a third demand: to protect undocumented students and to “block (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ICE from campus.”
Photo by Emily Paris, Photo Editor
This demand comes after Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE on Columbia’s campus for his role in the pro-Palestinian protests on his campus, sparking concerns on many universities that students may not be safe of deportation on their college campus.
“Our SJP is a member of the SoCal SJP Coalition, a coalition of 21 universities across the Southern California area. Of these universities, not one, not a single one, has made the basic critical decision to protect their student's rights and refuse to allow ICE and other law enforcement agents onto our campus, onto their campuses,” said Tucker. “Outside of SJP, this is extremely dangerous to our students, to our campus and to our fucking community.”
The walkout had speakers from different clubs, including SJP, Judaism On Our Own Terms (JOOOT), Disciples On Campus, The Spoonies and faculty members.
The concerns expressed by students ranged from their disapproval of the dismissal of Stewart to how disabilities services may be impacted by the administration cutting funding to DEI.
“I stand before you today feeling a deep sense of frustration,” said the student representing Chapman Spoonies who requested to remain anonymous. “Not only because of the lack of communication we’ve received from the administration, but feeling great concern of resources like DEI, that they might be stripped away, leaving some of the most vulnerable of us without support that we so desperately need.”
The speakers at large not only called for Struppa to commit to protecting DEI and undocumented and migrant students at Chapman, but they were also calling for Matt Parlow, the incoming president, to do the same.
The students were joined by many faculty members during their walkout and consequent march around campus. The faculty were present to show support to the students, as well as to express their disagreements over the recent changes to the DEI office.
“Faculty equally care about these issues; so there's biology faculty, education faculty, faculty from Wilkinson (College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences),” Lisa Leitz, told The Panther. Lisa Leitz currently serves as the Delp-Wilkinson Endowed Professor and the Department Chair of Peace Studies. “If we're going to have a world that's more just or more peaceful, we've got to deal with all the divisions within and and actually try to understand all the many groups.”
At the end of the walkout, student organizers passed around a petition for students to sign to show the university how many students support the demands of the walkout.
Out of the 33 clubs and organizations who signed the list of demands, most of them had representatives or club members present at the walk out. The list is comprised of SJP, Vietnamese Student Association, South Asian Student Association, Queer Trans People of Color Collective, Asian Pacific Student Association Collective, Mission Environment, JOOOT, Chapman Feminists, Omega Phi Beta, Project Pilots, Nikkei Student Union, Women’s Health Club, O-STEM, Calliope, Shift Happens, Sociology Club, The Peace Studies Union, Disciples On Campus, The Film Society, Phi Alpha Theta, The Spoonies, Anti-Philosopher’s Forum, Kapamyla, Improv Inc, Ballet Folklorico, Queer Student Alliance, Father’s Milk, Women in Film, Chapman On Broadway, Mariachi Panteras, AURA and Infected Magazine.
This is a developing story that The Panther will continue to report on as the situation unfolds.
