On April 16, the DEI resolution proposed by the student body to ASWU was officially passed with a vote of eight in favor and three abstentions. The resolution’s passing was the result of over a month’s work of drafting, dialogue and advocating from students at Whitworth.
Whitworth’s President Scott McQuilkin attended the ASWU meeting discussing the resolution. A week after the resolution passed, ASWU President Isaac Price presented the resolution to the Board of Trustees.
The resolution asks Whitworth to protect existing programs that serve students at Whitworth, such as the programs out of the International Students Center (ISC) and BUCS Bridge. The protection is called for with awareness of national or external pressures that could be placed on Whitworth, and the resolution asks for the school to stand true to its mission.
ASWU President Isaac Price spoke about what the resolution can and can’t do. He said that ASWU does not have control over what the university is specifically going to do as a result of the resolution passing. Further, he acknowledged that “we didn’t necessarily hear any result from the presentation with the board of trustees, but I was told in advance that we weren’t going to get a response.” For Price, the resolution was more about expressing the students’ stance in a unified way that allowed their voices to be heard.
Price said, “this was a case where a lot of students rallied around one thing […] which showed the importance of the issue and the convictions of the students, that people are willing to go to those lengths and express their opinions.” Price noted that in total, between forms sent out, tabling and a change.org campaign, there were around 500 students who backed the resolution.
As of right now, the only public statement that Whitworth has put out was Scott McQuilkin’s message earlier in February that stated in part “We maintain our long-standing Christ Centered Rationale for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, which affirms to anyone who seeks to study or work at Whitworth: Our hope is that you are seen, known, loved and valued, in this place where God is at work, making all things new, on earth as it is in heaven.”
