Although he is bringing up a valid issue that should be talked about, Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard has been employing tone-deaf rhetoric that only obfuscates the discussion about race and education.
In a convocation speech, referring to the racial makeup of the 15,000-student university in Bellingham, Shepard said, “If in decades ahead, we are as white as we are today, we will have failed as a university.” On the university’s website, he posed the question, “How do we make sure that in future years we are not as white as we are today?” Shepard, who is white, later explained, “I needed to provoke some attention. It’s really important to understand the issue facing all of American higher education and that is, our country is changing.”
Yes, by all means, when you do something unknowingly foolish, employ the “I was being knowingly provocative” defense. And Shepard certainly provoked attention.
The Washington Times, a conservative newspaper based in the nation’s capital, ran the story of his remarks under the headline, “University: Help, our campus is too white.” A conservative website reported that WWU sent out a questionnaire seeking advice for diversifying its campus, running the story under the headline: “White is not right: Campus admins ask for help weeding out white people.” Of course, that’s not what Shepard was talking about. But when it comes to discussions of race in this country, dignity and decorum are fleeting at best. Which points out the problem with Shepard’s indelicate remarks.