Remarks at Founders’ Day Community Reflection
President Camilleri
April 24, 2014
Good morning. I am honored to welcome you to Stetson Chapel today as we celebrate 181 years of community.
In our many years at Kalamazoo, our community has faced many challenges and triumphs. Often times, theymirror what is happening in society. From slavery, statehood, and Civil War to the World Wars, Civil Rights and Vietnam, what is going on in the world has always had a direct impact on K students, faculty, and staff.
This year has been no different. Given a dramatic shift in recruiting and enrollment, our campus diversity is much more obvious than it has everbeen before through things like race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and geography. Similarly, society is going through the same kind of change where communities all over the country are integrating different people from all walks of life.
However, just like in the U.S., our institution has not yet caught up with its policies and practices to adapt to the ever-changing needs of all people, so integration has been challenging. And students (myself included) have made that very clear through actions, discussions and meetings—all of which really has stirred this Hornets’ Nest.
Yesterday, that became even more evident to me when a student and fellow commissioner emailed me their story of trying to overcome one of these institutional barriers.
This student is a first year who identifies as transgender. Although they will be going through a full outwardtransition from male to female next year, they would prefer to live in a single room on campus. But they don’t have the means to pay the additional $900 it costs to have one of those very tiny rooms in Severn. The only solution thus far would be to give them a “medical single,” thereby classifying their gender as a medical condition. This student came to me to try to find a solution for them and for other students like them so that transgender students aren’t forced to classify who they are as a “condition” in order to get the resources that they need.
I tell you this story not specifically to share one student’s struggle, but to emphasize the changes that we are seeing at Kalamazoo College and to underline the importance our community can have at these moments.
We have a responsibility to uphold our motto “Lux Esto” or “Be Light.” Therefore, we must shine a light on the corners of our campus that have been dark for so long to the most marginalized of students in order to find a solution. Given that we have a strong sense of family within this nest, I know that we can and will take care of and honor each other—since we already do a really good job of making Kalamazoo a home away from home and have for 181 years.
Founders’ Day is a celebration meant to honor people in our community, and I thank you for all that you do for K. Let’s also take this time to honor those students who have contributed much to our campus, but who still struggle with full inclusion here.