At the start of his term in 2021, President Eric Kaler set a precedent of sending emails of support when members of the Case Western Reserve University community were directly or indirectly impacted by events ranging from international headlines to local campus events. In fact, his second ever campus-wide email, titled “Supporting Dreamers after DACA Ruling” and sent on July 20, 2021, was a message to vocalize CWRU’s steadfast commitment to its diverse community. However, in the past year, these emails have become increasingly disappointing and sparse in regards to supporting the community.
His recent email, sent on Jan. 28, is a response to President Donald Trump’s inauguration and the impact Trump’s administration has on the CWRU community. The email focuses on the Jan. 27 Office of Management and Budget memo that suspended all federal grant funding, including to private universities. This, of course, could have serious effects on the campus as an R1 university. However, at a time like this when many on campus feel uncertain and even scared, support and acknowledgement is the least the administration can do.
Despite Kaler’s new email stating in the first paragraph that “These measures could significantly impact how we as a university operate … and importantly, who can study and work at Case Western Reserve,” the lack of acknowledgement of the actual people on campus is astounding, as the rest of the email focused on how Trump’s action will change institutional research and funding.
The exclusion of other executive orders in the email is noteworthy, as it fails to mention—let alone provide an ounce of empathy to—those who are impacted by or fearful of other actions that Trump may take. These fears were exacerbated on Sunday, Jan. 26, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly raided Cilantro Taqueria in Coventry, thereby bringing what many could ignore to the forefront of the CWRU community. The omission of this event, or a sustained sentence about immigration, is devastating considering that roughly 20% of CWRU students come from a country that is not the United States.
Trump’s many new executive orders also concern marginalized communities.
Last November, Kaler’s emails, or the lack thereof, failed the Black community. After election night, the nation saw an increase in racism with widespread racist texts being sent across the country. During USG’s open Q&A with Kaler, one attendant expressed disappointment with the president’s lack of response to this ordeal, stating that African American students on campus found themselves feeling “threatened and scared.” In response, Kaler said that he “actually could not think of a message that [he] could send that would help people feel better across the board.”
The LGBTQIA+ community on campus also expressed dissatisfaction with the way the administration has remained relatively silent on pressing issues. More recently, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 104, a law that places restrictions on bathrooms, forcing transgender individuals to use “restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower rooms” that correspond with their biological sex. President Kaler said in an email that the administration’s “primary focus is, and always will be, the safety and well-being of [their] people.” He then affirmed that the campus would be “abid[ing] by the law.” Many students felt uneasy with this statement, as, by the law, some of their rights could be taken away. Although in his email Kaler mentioned that updates would be shared as more information becomes available, the university has failed to provide any satisfactory follow-up to the many questions raised by this ruling.
These responses differ greatly from Kaler’s early emails in office, which expressed explicit concern for students in marginalized communities. It seems more and more as though the university’s responses come quicker when the university’s image and the success of the school has a significant stake in the matter. This betrays a lack of concern for certain marginalized groups, even if unintentional on the part of the administration.
Emails of solidarity are not the only way to demonstrate support for the campus community. Students might feel more supported if the campus created helpful plans of action to help students during these uncertain times.
Even if the administration cannot outright say that they oppose the new executive orders, CWRU can be more transparent about how these new policies will impact the university’s operations. Regarding threats to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the administration can make sure to highlight mental health resources to struggling students and work on creating new programs to support the school’s marginalized communities. In regards to potential changes to federal policy that can affect international student aid, the school should provide reassurance to their students rather than simply allowing those who will potentially be affected to speculate about their future. As a campus that intends to remain informed and diverse, CWRU should provide resources for the campus community to stay up to date on current events and how changing policies could affect our university.