Lewis And Clark Student: I Forgive My Attackers

By Amelia Templeton (OPB)
Nov. 25, 2015 12:25 a.m.

A black student who reported being attacked by three white men on the Lewis and Clark College campus called for unity and forgiveness on Tuesday. The Portland Police are investigating the incident as a possible bias crime.

Hundreds of students and faculty members packed an auditorium on campus Tuesday afternoon to hear Rwandan student Tanguy Muvuna speak.

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Muvuna addressed his unidentified attackers, saying he forgives them and hopes they finish their studies. "Don't give hate a space in your heart," he told the crowd.

Muvuna said he is proud of being black. He asked students of color to "please try not to think that white people don't like you or are favored by the system."

As his speech drew to an end, he called on black students in the audience to stand with him, and then called for white students to join them. "Hug them and tell them we are one," he urged.

Earlier Wednesday morning, about 70 students staged a sit-in at the administration building that houses school President Barry Glassner's office.

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Downstairs, students sat quietly, sharing French fries and displaying signs that read "#BlackLivesMatter" and "For $53,614 a year, safety should and must be a guarantee."

Upstairs, students on laptops worked on honing their message, and asked members of the press to leave. Four students later emerged to talk to the media. Senior Karissa Tom read from a list of their goals.

"Ensure student safety. Create an exclusive, full-time position for the chair of the committee on diversity and inclusion. Diversify Lewis and Clark staff and faculty. Mend relationships with the Lewis and Clark community, and the globe," she read.

The students also called for a more open conversation about their school's name, the role of the Lewis and Clark expedition in opening up Native American land to white settlement, and Clark's role as a slave owner.

People of color make up 26 percent of the college's most recent freshman class, and 14 percent of the faculty at Lewis and Clark.

Just one tenured professor and two tenure-track professors at the undergraduate college are African-American.

Dean of Students Catherine Gunther Kodat said the college is committed to diversifying its faculty.  "Given the nature of faculty contracts, it's something that can't happen overnight," she said.

The school is in the process of hiring for five tenure-track positions.

"I have made very clear to the faculty who are on those search committees that diversity is a priority for the college," she said.

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