Today, Dr. J. Kline and the Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns conducted a meeting for Watkins students, staff and faculty.
An annotated transcription of the meeting provided by Jaime Raybin is available here: Watkins College of Art Townhall Meeting - January 29, 2020
Full video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nmLAdr_VsQ
All text is paraphrased based on my written notes and should not be taken as direct quotes. If you have a correction, email jaimeraybin@gmail.com
*The text below are only a few points discussed. *
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Student life: What resources exist for LBGTQ students?
Dr B: We don’t have any policies that differentiate any particular group or class. But we do have a nondiscrimination clause in our student charter.
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SL: Will Watkins student be required to take religion classes?
B: It depends based on the number of credits that you have. It’s a scaled system based on credit hours. So if you are a senior, you’ll be finishing out the Watkins curriculum. If you are coming in as a sophomore, you’ll be expected to take more of the Belmont curriculum. There are two religion classes that are part of our “BELL Core”.
I do want to be clear that this is a Christian institution. However, we will not try to convert you. This is not about indoctrination. It is about the academic study of the work of literature that is the Bible.
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Watkins Student: I would like to present you with this list of wants, needs and concerns to take back with you. These were written with a group of Fine Arts students and faculty.
We would like the President of Belmont to make a public statement about freedom of expression and nondiscrimination
We want a written, legally binding document regarding honoring Watkins tuition. We want to be exempt from student requirements that are different from Watkins such as being required to buy a meal plan
We request to have a different transition liaison than Dr. Kline. We’d like it to be a committee of faculty and staff from Watkins.
We want studio spaces and senior show spaces equivalent to what we would have received at Watkins
Clarify the AICAD policies and make sure that our AICAD privileges can come with us
For the endowment fund that will be generated by the sale of our building, we want to have student and faculty representatives overseeing how scholarships are awarded
We want to keep our Watkins emails
Dr. B accepts the list from the student.
Another student says, “Can you please respond to these concerns?”
B: I don’t have the authority to make these decisions, but I will bring this list back with me and present them.
Student: We’d like to have these concerns addressed specifically in email afterwards.
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Student: My understanding is that in order to be a faculty member at Belmont you need to be a Christian. How can you guarantee us the same diverse, open minded education we would have at Watkins if all the faculty at Belmont is Christian?
B: So what I can tell you is that Christinanity is pretty diverse. There is a theological point of view that Christians share, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not diverse in their thoughts or academic procedures. I have worked in other places, and this is the most diverse faculty I’ve ever worked with. So yes they are all Christians, but their academic ideals, pursuits, and activities can vary and are diverse. I am confident that we will be able to provide you with an incredibly diverse, well-rounded educational environment. Your opinions and mine might not be the same, that’s not to diminish yours or mine but to say that there’s interpretation here and I respect that. We’re being honest and saying that all of our faculty is Christian, but I don’t want you to see that as a worldview that is somehow bigoted or unaccepting or unwilling to engage with people of different faiths, different ideas, or different approaches to life.
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Student: You were saying that the staff is all Christian at Belmont. What about our faculty? Are they going to be able to work at Belmont even if they are not Christians?
B: So we do not hire people who are not Christian. So the Watkins faculty who are not Christians would not be able to work at Belmont.
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Student: Will we be censored in any way as artists?
B: We do work with our faculty and our students to talk about appropriate audiences, but as far as I know we’ve never been accused of censorship of student or faculty work. We do engage in conversation about how we might modify language in introductions for plays, for example, to make them appropriate for all audiences. We do have children that come and want to be sure that they feel welcome as well as their parents.
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Student: Will there be severance for teachers who don’t apply to Belmont?
B: I don’t know
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Former Belmont student: The art building at Belmont doesn’t have 24 hour access, which we have here. Can we have that?
B: We do have several other buildings on campus that offer extended hours. We’re open to extended hours based on student needs. Part of it depends on how many students need access to the space and how long. I’m of the mind that nothing good ever happens at 3am, so I’m not crazy about doing that. But we have student monitors and professional monitors. The library is open 24/7.
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Alum: (to Belmont) I am a Native woman and a Watkins alumni, and I would have never invested my money knowing it was going to a faith that committed genocide against my people. I hope that the students who don’t have a choice but to go to your school will be welcomed and accommodated as well as they can be, because this is not something that they asked for. And I hope that you make a safe space for people of other backgrounds who may not have a choice for where they go to continue their higher education.
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The points discussed here further illuminate the challenges the Watkins College of Art students, faculty and staff will face due to the merger.