Scherrens Issues Letter of Support for Bethany College President Will Jones

Newberry College President Dr. Maurice W. Scherrens issued a letter of support for Bethany College President Dr. William A. Jones after racist messages targeting Jones and his family were discovered scrawled in chalk on the sidewalks of the campus. The alleged perpetrators, claiming affiliation with a white supremacist group, claimed their actions were in protest to Jones’s call for a more diverse population on the Lindsborg, Kan., campus and to the makeup of Jones's family, which includes two bi-racial adopted children.

Written Sept. 19, 2016, President Scherrens said: 

Dear Dr. Jones:

I just heard recently about the issues that you are dealing with at Bethany College, and wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that everyone here at Newberry College, Newberry, South Carolina has you and your family, as well as the Bethany College community in our thoughts and prayers.

Even though we have not met, I am very impressed by the commitment that you have made to embrace inclusivity and diversity both in your private and professional life.  You “walk the walk” in a world where so many just “talk the talk.”  As a fellow ELCA institution of higher education, our foundation is “reason and faith” along with “diversity and inclusivity.”  We believe the word “minority” no longer has value in our dialogue about treating each other fairly, and treating each other how we would want to be treated ourselves.  We are all in this together, and the more time we spend walking in the shoes of others, the less discrimination, hatred and racism there will be in the world.

It is because I believe that we are all so much stronger as institutions and organizations because of our diversity that I am so disheartened by the treatment that you and your family are enduring.  There is no room for such hatred, bigotry and discrimination.  As a people we are better than that.  We have to be!  Our goal must be to tear down the walls of isolationism and exclusivity and build communities that leverage our differences to make us stronger.

We have included you in our Wednesday morning chapel prayer list and as a President’s Council you were in our prayers today.  If there is anything that we can do to help you in anyway, please do not hesitate to call upon us.  We stand with you in your commitment to diversity and inclusivity and we are proud to stand with you on your stance of eliminating racism and hatred from your campus.  We pray that God gives you the strength and wisdom that you need.  You know that you are in the “right,” and with that knowledge I am reminded of the advice I was once given:

“…to get from where we have been to where we want to be,
we must get through where we are.”

If there is a fund where we could make a contribution to help out the school in your efforts to more fully embrace diversity, I believe we have some individuals who would want to help.  You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Maurice W. Scherrens

President