As a keeper of historical records, it’s not often that I take advantage of the opportunity to not only watch but be an active part of our campus history in the midst of its creation. Usually, I’m  focused on contextualizing current events with information from our past. Recently, however, my family and I decided to join hundreds of Santa Clara University students, faculty, and staff in a march and rally for racial justice that coincided with Scholar Strike, a two-day series of demonstrations for racial justice organized at college campuses and universities across the United States (1). 

Around 5:30 pm on Wednesday, September 9, we assembled in the area between the Main Parking structure and Charney Hall (2) amid convivial chatter and socially-distanced, mask-muffled greetings to friends we haven’t seen in person in months. When the march began, we proceeded up the Sobrato Mall toward the front of the Mission Church. Once at the Church the crowd turned right, chanting in call and response “Black Lives Matter” and “We love you, Dr. Morgan.” From there, on approach to the Dowd Art & Art History Building, the crowd turned left and approached its final gathering place, in front of the Jesuit Residence where a number of students and faculty members spoke.

Given the size of the crowd, and the need to maintain social distancing, it was difficult for my family and me to hear the words of all of the speakers, which included SCU students and faculty of color, as well as some alumni. Nevertheless, the tone and passion of individual speeches underscored the urgency of calls to end racial injustices at SCU. If pressed, I would imagine that the words echoed those shared at the June 2, 2020 Virtual Vigil for Racial Justice (3). Overall, I was struck by the spirit of solidarity and unity among the crowd, and keenly sensed the pain and frustration of those who feel their words aren’t heard and their experiences don’t matter. This pain and frustration aren’t just local to SCU, either. As I have often observed in my work with university records, what happens locally on campus is often a reflection of events playing out nationally: other Jesuit colleges and universities are also in the midst of confronting racial bias in their campus communities.

Beyond standing in solidarity with the SCU community, participating in this rally was personal for me. On August 22, 2020, while her brother was visiting after a strict two-week quarantine, an SCU Campus Safety Officer asked Dr. Danielle Fuentes Morgan, assistant professor in the Department of English, to show her campus identification to prove she is an SCU employee who lives in the University-owned house where she had opened the front door. The officer also asked her to attest that her brother was indeed visiting her (4). I know Dr. Morgan as both a colleague and friend. Our elementary school-aged daughters have been schoolmates for almost 5 years now, and I’ve met her brother and family members at her daughter’s birthday parties. I was horrified and outraged to learn of her experience of racial bias on this campus. I am grieved to think how she must feel unwelcome not only on this campus but also in the place she and her family call home.

Participating in this rally, during a pandemic, is the least that I can do, but it can’t be the only thing I do, personally or professionally. In the same way, permitting its campus community to hold such rallies for racial justice can’t be the only thing that the University does to end racial injustice at SCU (5). To echo what I’ve previously stated in regards to the  legacy of statues on this campus, for SCU to truly cherish its diverse and inclusive community, one aspect of this campus it must see squarely is how its students and faculty of color are treated, and especially mis-treated, on this campus.

As a keeper of the archives, and with the answers to numerous questions almost immediately available to me with a short elevator ride down to the vault, it’s easy to forget that big historical changes most often happen incrementally, over time. Perhaps we are seeing the beginnings of change: after the rally my family and I made a brief detour through the Mission gardens on the way back to our car. My motive was a professional one, to see with my own eyes that the University had removed SCU’s Serra statue from public view. This concrete action was one of two recommendations from the Ohlone History Working Group (6) implemented by the University as announced last week by the Office of the President in an email to the campus community. Momentous as these actions are, we in Archives & Special Collections will continue to watch and document further actions to make SCU a more welcoming, diverse, and inclusive campus for everyone.

1. Scholar Strike was initiated by Anthea Butler, associate professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Kevin Gannon, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Professor of History at Grand View University in Des Moines, IA. https://www.scholarstrike.com/
2. The assembly point was moved from its original meeting place, in front of the Campus Safety Office on campus, to this area, to ensure that attendees could safely gather and social distance. Construction fences around the Sobrato building occluded what was already a tight space.
3. This link leads to a recording of the vigil, attended by many from the SCU community, and during which SCU students read original works: Isaac Addai read “Visualize The Gift of a Lie” and Ranee Sanford read “Last Night I Cried”
4. Dr. Morgan documented the incident in a Twitter thread. Selected media coverage by the Washington Post and America Magazine.
5. At the time this blog was being written, permitting the rally on campus was among the latest in a series of the University’s response to the August 22, 2020 incident. For more information, see the University’s Advancing Racial Justice web page. 
6. In a September 9, 2020 email to the campus community the President’s Office announced that SCU’s Serra statue in the Mission Gardens was removed from public view and put into storage where it will remain until a future working group can devise an inclusive interpretation of the statue that appropriately acknowledges Serra’s legacy to Mission Santa Clara while also honoring the Ohlone people and providing representation to their past and present culture. The University removed the statue based on the recommendation of the Ohlone History Working Group, convened in June 2019 by outgoing SCU president Fr. Michael Engh, S.J. The University also removed and stored the Peter Burnett Plaque on display in the Mission Church. The full report of the Working Group is available on the University’s website at https://www.scu.edu/diversity/initiatives-and-reports/ as well as the Archives & Special Collections research guide about the Ohlone in Santa Clara.

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Header image: The original assembly point in front of the entrance to the Campus Safety Office located in the Main Parking Structure on campus. Written in chalk in front of the entrance are the words “Black Lives Matter / Please treat all members of our community with respect!!!“