Open Letter from Adrian Guerrero
Friday, April 30, 2010
[grey text is Cary]
EDIT 5/1/10: I removed the e-mail addresses and full names from the forwarded e-mails, in case the people who were cc’d don’t want to have that much information posted publicly online. If, for some reason, you need to see that information, let me know and I can forward you Adrian’s e-mail.
ORIGINAL POST: Adrian forwarded me an e-mail he sent to our student body president (who has kindly forwarded it to the student listserv). Adrian asked me to post it to this website as well, so here it is in its entirety. Everything below this first paragraph came from Adrian. I want to apologize that I didn’t see his e-mail until after the forum today (I was out and about this afternoon). None the less, here it is:
Subject: Fwd: URGENT TIME SENSITIVE– Fwd: A Time for Honesty
From: Adrian Guerrero
To: Cary Young
Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 3:13 PM
CARY!
I don’t know if Brad can get to this in time.
Could you post the whole thing, all of the messages and times etc., on lclark.us?
Would be a great help!
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Adrian Guerrero
Date: Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 2:47 PM
Subject: URGENT TIME SENSITIVE– Fwd: A Time for Honesty
To: B. Elkins/ASLC, C. Limas
Cc: N. Warmuth, R. Hillyer, D.B. Rosengard, L. Asher, L. I. Angst, J. Schy
Hey Brad (and LC),
I forwarded this apology letter for the student body to Celestino at the beginning of February, about a week or two after the “poster incident.”
He declined to send it out, and explained to me that he was waiting for a more “appropriate” time to send it. I chose not to publish it because Celestino advised me to remain anonymous, and I trusted that he knew what to do. He said that this would all become public in time, and that we would then be able to have conversations about it.
Well, it’s the end of the semester. Celestino has yet to follow through. He may have his reasons, but I am not sure what they are.
I’ve come out in public, and he still hasn’t sent it. I apologized to the whole student body, and the administration’s desire to both keep my identity anonymous and my apologies secret have hindered the healing process and prolonged suffering for many here at Lewis and Clark College.
I also wrote a letter to Seamus a few weeks ago, which was forwarded to Tricia and has yet to be sent (I will now send it to him directly, but not include it in this email, because it is intended for him. He may share it if he so chooses).
Why?
Why does the administration choose to hinder the reconciliation process when it is so badly needed? I think it is indicative that the first ever meeting between faculty and staff to discuss this issue was held yesterday, April 29th (I wish that you had been there). That 2.5 hour conversation, which was closed to students (though at least four others besides me found a way to get in), was more productive than any bureaucratic, impersonal email conversations or closed-door interrogations. I know that I caused pain to many students, faculty, and staff. I will never forget that. But why has the administration chosen to disregard that?
What does the administration get out of prolonging the pain that I and others have felt at LC? Especially considering that most students at LC do not know that I have apologized publicly and have tried to seek pathways for reconciliation for any and all affected. ESPECIALLY because even the faculty have seen this letter, since I sent it to them a few weeks ago. The faculty know, the administration knows– why don’t the students know?
This is what I wanted from the beginning– I wanted to have open dialog, open healing, and open discussion. I put up the posters anonymously, though I was not secretive about it, and then came forward to the administration voluntarily. As he will, I am sure, confirm, I was heavily advised and convinced by Celestino Limas to remain anonymous, even after I said that I thought it would be a better idea to open all the doors and talk to people.
I am so tired of having secret email discussions and private meetings with administrators. Why? Because I am first and foremost a student, and my first duty is to the students and faculty, NOT Celstino, Tricia, and Jeff Feld-Gore. And also, because I believe that the best way to heal is to have open discussions, NOT secret meetings and email conversations.
I will no longer use the administration’s form of conflict-management. Their methods have further divided students, faculty, and staff.
Do you know what will really help create this community? Discussions like the one we had yesterday, without secrets. Community spaces for students, faculty, and staff.
From now on, I refuse to engage in complex arguments and critiques through the de-humanizing mediums of email and bureaucratic communication.
BRAD, please send this out to the student body– both this message and the forwarded email (if you don’t I’ll have to post it up, and that would be an awful waste of paper).
I’ll see you all at 5:00 today.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Adrian Guerrero
Date: Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Subject: A Time for Honesty
To: C. Limas, D. B. Rosengard
Hello Celestino,
Here is the letter.
My home phone number is (CENSORED lol). If you could call my parents and let them know that I am doing well, and that I am prepared to stand up and fight, that would be great. Let them know that I have been talking to you, another Latino, and that I have allies and people who support me.
——–
A Time for Honesty
There comes a time in the career of every artist, and especially every public artist who uses her work for perceived truths, in which she must explain herself—when she must detach her ego and think about what she does, and why she feels the need to do it. Many of you have filtered out more or less that my installations were direct responses to, if not copied off of what I see as institutionally sanctioned racism at Lewis and Clark College. I spoke up because I felt that we, all of us, were being blind to the legacy of racism that has survived at our school. I sought to point out these problems in a way that everyone could understand, to subvert the ideologies about race and racism that we all blindly wield.
However, a public artist’s ultimate responsibility is not to the execution of her work; it is to the people she crafts it for. What good is art without an audience?
It is easy for any artist to insert her commentary into a society; what is difficult is discussing and talking one-on-one with those whom it was made for. And that is what happened to me, because I made this for the community of Lewis and Clark, and not against. What is at stake here is not my own reputation, but something much more important. What is at stake is the dignity of human beings who are our friends, classmates, and moreover, our family. Though it was completely unintentional, I have injured this dignity and made many feel subhuman, less than human.
This is of utmost importance to me. I know what it is like to feel less than human, to be called exotic for my brown skin, to have my life threatened and my family insulted for being “alien,” “other,” to be called “dirty Indian,” “black man.” As a Chicano, I am motivated by love for the struggle and dignity of all people. The inspiration behind this was to serve the Lewis and Clark family. The realization that my work has made people feel attacked, isolated, and subhuman has rocked me to my core.
I did not do this against any person, or even group of people. I was attacking an ideology, a way of thinking which we are all guilty of. Even the left-ist, fem-ist, most Brown Beret and Black Panther among us have exercised the powers of hurt and ignorance. That is not the real mistake; that is simply being human in today’s United States. The real mistake is a refusal to learn, to grow, and to question your ideologies. You and I, we are both guilty of the crime of de-humanizing.
Which brings me to the most important part of this letter: you and I, us, as people in a school family, have the ability to change together. I apologize that my actions have hurt many—I do not apologize for my feelings. At the “rally”, somebody gave a well-intentioned speech about how students have felt isolated and attacked in the past week or so. Well, that is how I feel much of the time, and that is how many other students also feel. I know other students who have been publicly put down or harassed by professors, student senators, and administrators for their identity, including myself. We feel alone, isolated, and attacked every day. So, in asking for your apology, I also ask that you re-evaluate yourself, and this entire situation. The simple question is “why is it okay to appropriate indigenous cultures, such as the Maori, who also have a long legacy of U.S. oppression in people-zoos and the equivalent of blackface?” The harder question, which I also struggle with, is “why do these ideologies exist at Lewis and Clark, and in the larger world?” Nothing happens by accident. There are reasons for everything today, if you look close enough.
We have an opportunity now, one that might be the most important thing we do at Lewis and Clark in our four years together. We have the ability to respond to these issues, not with ambiguous petitions, thinly moralistic public declarations, and self-assurances that “we are not racist” when indeed we (both I and you) all are. We all have the ability to respond and root out the most basic causes for this conflict.
It is not over. The discussion is just beginning. In fact, if we leave this alone now, we will all have failed ourselves as people. Those of us, including myself, who feel threatened at Lewis and Clark are not overreacting. We are RIGHT– Lewis and Clark is NOT a safe place for all people—but it can be, if we make it that way. We can stop running from our problems, and start changing them.
Love, Struggle, Act Up.
———
Thanks.
-Adrian
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[Administrator]
Cary
kennner
dshack
maishaparadox
angelalc
What isn’t included here are the thinly veiled threats that Adrian emailed to Brad as to the ‘instructions’ for sending this letter out. I am so sick of this whole thing. Adrian is one student out of 2,000, I wish we could move on from this as a community instead of constantly hearing from one person.
What threats?
Threatening to print it out and send it myself?
How threatening.
I mean, I DID send it out myself to a couple of email listservs.
I told Brad that it would look bad for him if it said one thing on one email and another thing on another email. Which it would. If he hadn’t sent out the whole thing, he would look kinda stupid when Cary posted this up. I have nothing against Brad, he’s been a pretty good guy.
Also, there were no “thinly veiled threats” the first time I sent the email to him. I sent them because he didn’t attach any time qualifiers to it after I specifically asked him to.
Defending my dignity is not a threat.
Actually, sorry for engaging you in an internet joust.
Here’s my number: 925.695.6503
If you have beef, call me.
My main beef is your use of the phrase “It is in your interest to keep to the instructions.” as used in one of your emails to Brad; I fail to see how this strong wording helps with defending your dignity.
Also, if you don’t want the attention then why do you keep making noise about the issue?
I don’t want to fight you on this, nor do I intend to engage you further after this comment, I just feel that if your opinions are so important than everyone else’s should be equally so.
I couldn’t agree more. I thought we were over this stupid thing last month when the Piolog ran Adrian’s letter to the editor, but then there was the front pages story, and now the email spam.
Point is, he screwed up, his posters were a bad decision and ultimately only managed to hurt other people. I think he deserves his punishment.
Now it’s turned into an alleged administration conspiracy and this exceedingly haughty open letter. Hopefully this will be the last we hear from Adrian.
hey.
i hate internet jousting.
here’s my phone number:
925.695.6503
All this attention is simply turning him into some sort of Martyr. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, but I keep hoping for something to temper his ego and sens of self-importance. In the end, all this outrage directed at him is having the exact opposite effect, inflating his sense of being one of the “movers and shakers of our time” or something. It’s really too bad, because I feel that what this school sorely needs right now is for some activist-related news or event to occur that isn’t tied to him and his drama.
Summer break couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s all let this sit over the next few months, and hopefully return with cooler heads and better priorities.
Please, I don’t want the attention. I never did, which is why I made things anonymous in the first place. I wanted to let people have their own discussions.
I have only received stress from this.
Adrian, some advice. If you really don’t want the attention, as you claim, stop being vocal about it. If you stop talking about it, stop commenting on this blog, stop rebutting everyone’s criticisms, and stop sending emails out to the school, we will all forget about it. I promise. Nobody really wanted to be talking about it this long anyway.
Everybody gets that you were well-intentioned, and you admitted that you went about it the wrong way. All in all, not much to impugn your character. But people are getting annoyed now, and I think you (and the student body) will be much happier if we can all move on.
This isn’t an “internet joust.” Just trying to help.
Get your story straight. You have said repeatedly that the administration strongly encouraged you to remain anonymous, when here you make it sound like you actually did it out of your own choosing to avoid attention.
This is just one of many inconsistencies in things that you have said. All in all, these inconsistencies keep me from treating your words with any sort of sincerity. If you are going to lie, at least be consistent.
hey, i wish i had never done it like this if i knew this would happen.
because then i wouldn’t have to spend two hours a day explaining this to people.
i’m tired of internet fights. here’s my number if you want to talk:
925.695.6503
By the way Cary, this blog has been a great addition to my lclark experience this year. Who’s taking it over after you toss your hat?
Still undetermined, I think. I think for the time being I’ll maintain what you might call “ownership” (I’ll keep the domain name and make sure it stays on the internet), and keep looking for someone to take charge who is still a student or staff member. Ideally, I think a non-RA student should run it for a number of reasons:
1. RAs are held to a higher standard of just about everything, and I would hate for something someone posted on this website to affect a an RA’s job–even if that’s an extremely unlikely situation. I wouldn’t want someone to be put in the position of “delete this post because it’s not suitable for an RA to be facilitating/endorsing/commenting.” (I feel at least a little bit justified in making this statement because I was an RA for a year and a half)
2. I can imagine a similar situation if a staff member ran this blog… there are countless examples of companies firing people for their conduct online, outside of work (not to imply that L&C would actually do something like that, but if it can be avoided entirely, so much the better).
3. Most of the content this year has been student-driven, so I think it makes sense that a student keeps control (as always, I welcome anyone to make posts here–send me an e-mail and I’ll hook you up with an account).
Ideally I’d keep it out of the control of “the administration,” whatever that means. Mostly because the school itself has a plethora of venues to make its positions and opinions known (listservs, the official website, the Source, etc.) and I’d like for this to stay distinguished from those outlets. This is not to say that I want to discourage officials from posting here or reading this website (I’d be just as fine giving PubComm a posting account as I would giving one to anyone else), but I would like the ultimate moderation power kept by a more impartial party than the institution itself.
Regarding moderation, I really only want to regulate speech in the following circumstances:
1. If someone is being maliciously, unproductively hurtful (basically, “no hate-speech”).
2. If someone is posting something illegal (DISTINCTION: notice that I did not say “posting *about* something illegal”).
3. If someone is trying to exploit/deface/vandalize/”hack” this website.
So. Anyone in mind? I have a few ideas I’ve been considering, but nothing’s decided yet.
Worst Part: Adrian (and anyone for that matter) can say practically anything (if not absolutely anything) about a conduct case and the administration isn’t allowed to confirm or deny. So, hypothetically, someone could say “yeah, totally did that thing i was sanctioned to do and they just aren’t following up with promises” and be lying.
Food for thought.
What legal bindings? FERPA?
Thanks for mentioning that. I’m going to go let the administration know that they can go as public as they want with this issue. I forgot about FERPA. hm. i’m not even exactly sure what that stands for.
What, I don’t get to call you?
Even if you give someone permission to kill you, it’s still murder, still illegal.
@Danny
Why can’t the the administration confirm or deny?
Can Celestino really not answer your question if you ask him if Adrian sent him the letter months ago?
Good to know.
I was one of the few (along with David Rosengard and then later Reiko Hillyer) that Adrian initially sent his apology letter to so any of us can attest to the fact that it was written and sent months ago. I am not sure if that, coming from me, is any consolation to you, but hey, I thought I should try.
-Nicola Warmuth
Let it be known:
I revoke my FERPA protections surrounding this issue, whatever they may be.
Let everyone involved speak! I have nothing to hide.
I’m pretty sure you can’t actually do that. You yourself can compromise the information about you that FERPA covers, but I think the college is still legally bound not to, even if it’s totally out in the open.
Can’t confirm or deny because, as Cary states, it’s ILLEGAL. Sorry, transparency loses to federal law.
FERPA — a brief version.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (aka Buckley Amendment, aka a reason I can decline to tell your parents/employers/etc. all about your life).
In short (and this is very short and very generalized, since the amount of legal discussion that goes on around FERPA has been significant), FERPA governs how colleges handle people’s “educational records” (conduct file, grades, etc.) does three things:
(1) Gives students the rights to see (“access”) their educational records
(2) Gives students the right to have the school correct (“amend”) records that are mistaken or misleading — if the school declines, everyone gets to have a hearing — good times.
(3) Requires schools to have written permission from the student to disclose/discuss protected records, most of the time.*
* Exceptions to the we-need-your-permission-to-disclose/discuss include:
–”Directory Information”: name, address, campus extension, birth date/place, honors/awards, dates of attendance.
–Schools you are trying to transfer to
–Accrediting/auditing organizations
–If the info is requested by judicial order or subpoena
–College staff/faculty with a legit educational need to know
–Appropriate personnel in case of health/safety emergency-type situations
@Nicola
To speak about the issue generically, whether or not the College can disclose that a student sent them a letter would depend on the context… If the letter was mandated (for a class, or conduct sanction, etc, etc.) then it probably counts as a protected record, and can not be disclosed w/o permission. If the letter was simply sent as non-College-business correspondence, then it probably does not count as protected. If it is somewhere in between, then it probably counts as something in between…
@Danny
So in this case “transparency loses to federal law” is largely irrelevant — the option of transparency **with the student’s permission** pretty much is Federal law… …that said, permission by way of a blog reply probably is not going to meet Fed standards, but there are plenty of offices on campus with FERPA waivers on hand, so it is possible for any student who was interested to start waiving FERPA all over the place.
…
All of that said, there is a lot of ground between what FERPA gives a college the options to do, and which options that college is actually going choose to take advantage of…
…For example, back in the day, Congress decided that FERPA should have a specific exception that *allows* a college to tell a student’s parents any and every time they have a drug/alcohol policy violation — most colleges (including LC) do not *choose* to take constant advantage of this option that was so thoughtfully written into federal law.
whatever David. I QQ, you pewpew for knocking my transparency remark.