January 25, 2016

Dr. Dan Martin,

First, we would like to thank you for your willingness to engage with us in conversations

surrounding the issue of injustice on this campus. The forum allowed us to share our stories and

connect with other students. However, we were greatly disappointed with the format of the

forum, as well as the brevity of your responses to our questions.

At the start of the quarter, we began to compile questions using the hashtag “#askDan,”

that we hoped would be answered at the forum. Although you stated you were aware of them,

you specifically declined to answer these questions or similar questions we may have had,

suppressing any option for inquiry. Our hope was that the student body would be met with

thoughtful, informed answers. Less than five minutes into the forum, we were unfortunately

made aware that this would not be the case.

One of our frustrations with how you conducted the forum was the lack of transparency

in the form of comprehensive answers and requested information. For example, in your letter to

the student body, you mentioned hiring “ten new faculty of color.” It was not until a student

asked about the hires at the forum that it was made clear to us that some of these hires had

already been employed by SPU as staff. Not only that, but in this instance and others, you

consistently deferred your answers to the Provost or other staff. We hoped that you would

answer what you could in full, or state outright the reasons you did not have the answers. We

expected a certain level of preparation and thoughtful consideration before this forum, but we

were left sobered by the low standard of preparation that became apparent to us when the day

arrived. If transparency is your goal, these are things we hope will be included in future

communications with the campus.

Within the next four weeks, we request that you and your Senior Leadership Team,

particularly the Provost, Jeff Van Duzer, plan another forum to continue discussing the issues

surrounding racial injustice on campus. In this upcoming forum, we request the opportunity to

raise any questions and concerns that we have regarding the contents of your open letter.

Additionally, we request that all attending faculty and staff be explicitly encouraged and allowed

to share their own stories and experiences pertaining to the issues addressed in the forums.

They should be able to raise their own questions and concerns without fear of consequences

enacted by the administration. Furthermore, we strongly urge that this event be publicized by

any and all means available, including but not limited to: the SPU homepage, through a

campus-wide email, and among faculty and staff gatherings, etc. We believe that the first forum

was poorly advertised, if advertised at all, and that the upcoming forum needs to be an

opportunity for all students to attend, not just the students that are involved and working to solve

these issues.

Lastly, we find it imperative that we, as a student body and as an institution, continue to

advance in our efforts to ensure that the initiatives listed in your open letter are actualized. If we

are ever going to take our mission statement seriously, there needs to be accountability and

substantive progress, not rhetorical process. If these requests are not fulfilled within the

timeframe of four weeks, we are prepared to seek other avenues so that our voices will be

heard. Thank you for your leadership.

Respectfully,

Kymbreanne Elliott Ali SteenisErin Kimminau Elijah Isaiah WarrenArian Taher Gloris JonesDanny Anderson Henok BelayArisha Fite Christina ChildsMallory Loomis Brionna BrownJess Sloan Nakaira PettyCierra Cooper Bruna AfonsoAlmarina Quintero Shawn MiguelGloris Jones TJ Sawyer