{"id":103605,"date":"2019-09-19T09:08:10","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T19:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=103605"},"modified":"2019-09-19T09:15:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T19:15:46","slug":"president-message-uh-community-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/09\/19\/president-message-uh-community-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"President\u2019s message to 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> Community on civility"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Aloha 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> students, faculty and staff—and welcome to the beginning of a new academic year!<\/p>\n

I apologize for another long message to the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Community, but this semester is beginning unlike any other in my experience as president. Hawaiʻi<\/span> is facing one of our most challenging issues in decades, and it is impacting the academic experience for some of our students, faculty and staff.<\/p>\n

So this note is not about supporting or opposing the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT<\/abbr>). Disagreement and controversy are part of what make a university great. Suppression of opinions, of any kind, stifles the kind of intellectual inquiry we are here to nurture and encourage.<\/p>\n

But we must also be a place where our community learns to disagree respectfully, with civility and understanding of others and their perspectives. We learn from one another when we listen, not when we dismiss.\u00a0And whether we even realize it when we utter them, hurtful words cut off true discourse.<\/p>\n

We must also be aware of the power differentials among us—between students and faculty in a classroom and between untenured faculty and those who may judge them. We should also acknowledge the many other forms of difference, including race, that inform our and others\u2019 experiences of the world. There is no place, certainly not in our classrooms, for denigrating others.\u00a0At the same time, we must remain unwaveringly committed to the constitutional right to free speech guaranteed under the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

Over the past weeks there has been extensive commentary on campus, in email and via social media, about hurtful interactions initiated by both supporters and opponents of TMT<\/abbr> within the university and in the community. Direct follow-up in accord with applicable 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> policies has already been initiated in cases when formal complaints have been registered. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But we all have a role to play in creating a safe and welcoming environment. When we hear speech that goes from passionately academic to unbalanced and insulting, whether the speaker even realizes it or not, a colleague or friend has the best opportunity to influence corrective action that walks the conversation back. And we should all be aware that tendencies to inappropriate expression are greatest in email and with those we do not know. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Of great concern to me also has been recent pushback against our commitment to become a model indigenous serving institution.\u00a0Resistance has come from both directions, for different reasons.\u00a0For those who question how this commitment came about, I would note that we are not just a university in Hawaiʻi<\/span> but\u00a0the<\/strong>\u00a0University\u00a0of<\/strong>\u00a0Hawaiʻi<\/span>. Our obligations as such have been widely articulated and increasingly embraced for decades now. See, for example:<\/p>\n