Mathew Johnson: Racism and Anti-racism
Words verus actions
Britton, Hannah. “Introducing Albion’s 17th President: Dr. Mathew Johnson.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), April. 24th, 2020.
Introduction
Mathew Johnson served as Albion College's 17th president from April 2020 to December 2021. Dr. Johnson is arguably Albion College’s most infamous president in recent history. Dr. Johnson started his presidency with great plans and ideas. One of them was announcing Albion College as an anti-racist institution. Anti-racism is defined by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi as “a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas”. This was a polarizing move as it upset some members of the Albion College community who were content with the status quo. It also upset people on the opposite end of the spectra when Johnson did not follow through on his promises. Albion College has been a historically white college. Only in recent years has it begun to change. Dr. Johnson sent out a newsletter outlining his interpretation of how to implement antiracism at Albion College during the first few months of his presidency. One of the most infamous events during his short 18 months time as president was the multiple racist incidents in spring 2021. The college community was upset at Dr. Johnson's lack of response to the events initially. People expected him to play a more prominent role, largely due to him previously announcing his declaration of anti racism. It took a large demonstration of support organized by students for him to actually respond to the events that happened in spring 2021. After these events Dr.Johnson promised support for the Black community. However he then ignored the harassment people of color faced on campus as a result of the events in spring 2021. This ultimately came to a head during his inauguration when a petition was created asking for his removal from Albion College. By the date of his official inauguration there were over 1,800 signatures. A timeline of these events can be found lower on this website.
This project looks largely at the Pleiad's reporting of these events. Although students, faculty and members of the community were deeply upset over Dr. Johnson’s actions, the Pleiad could not directly report this. There has to be evidence in order to make a valid report. Dr. Johnson was good about not leaving a paper trail of his wrong-doings. Most of his wrong-doings are only based on hearsay. Although there are a lot of sources to confirm the information, no one wanted to be directly quoted speaking against Dr. Johnson. This story is complex and multi-fasciated.
Dr. Johnson left Albion College after an interaction many described as racist with honored community member, Hazel Lias. This is an important part of the story that has many complex layers. It created a huge amount of grievance for both the Albion community and the college itself. Lias herself stated she "never expected to be in this position". This event was not covered by the Albion Pleiad. Due to this and out of sensitivity for the issue, this project will not discuss Dr. Johnson leaving Albion College beyond what has already been said.
Declaration of Anti-racist institution
Johnson, Mathew. President-Elect Johnson: Albion Must Be Boldly and Courageously Anti-Racist. Albion College News Articles (Albion, MI), June. 2nd, 2020.
In June 2020 President elect Mathew Johnson sent out this news letter, declaring Albion College an anti-racist institution. Above details his plan on how to make this happen.
Timeline of Events
June 2nd 2021
Dr. Johnson announces Albion College as an anti-racist institution.
March 26th 2021
Around 9:40 pm a Black Albion College student parked his car in the library parking lot. An older white male began banging on this student's car, screaming, swearing, calling him the n-word and making other racist comments. Campus Safety sent an email notifying students of what happened.
March 27th 2021
The words "fat n****" were written on a Weasley CA on their white board on the morning of March 27th. Campus sends an email out to students notifying them of what happened.
March 28th 2021
Racist graphite is found in Mitchell Towers (twin) again. This time no email or notice is intentionally sent to students. This is due to Keena Williams, chief belonging officer and Title IX coordinator believe that notifying students of what was happening would inspire more racists acts.
April 2nd 2021
More racist graffiti is found in Mitchell Towers (twin). Graffiti such as,“KKK,” “KKK White Power,” “Albion is racist we do exist KKK” and “Die N—— Please!” and a six pointed star, with the numbers “666” written inside. The director of campus safety and Williams send out an email to students notifying them of the situation and offering a reward of $1000 for any information that would help identify the individual responsible.
April 5th 2021
450 people showed up to rally support and change for Albion College's Black community.
April 6th 2021
Mathew Johnson finally sends out an email addressing the situtation. He states the FBI is working with public safety to help the investigation.
April 7th 2021
Individual responsible for racist graffiti identified and removed from campus.
September 16th 2021
Petition has over 1,300 signatures. Student development sends out an email claiming the petition has "misinformation".
September 18th 2021
Dr. Johnson is officially inaugurated.
December 24th 2021
The Board of Trustees send out an email annoucing Dr. Johnson resignation.
Albion Pleiad Reporting of Dr. Johnson in Regards to Racism
President Johnson had sent out no official response himself at the time this article was published. These events were the first time a majority of the college community were able to see Dr. Johnson's true attitude towards racism. If this had been a previous president's reaction to these racist events people may have not been as upset. However, given Dr. Johnson's emphasis and declaration of anti-racism it was expected he would have played a more prominent role in helping these issues. People felt Dr. Johnson was not delivering on his promise of anti-racism. It is thought Dr. Johnson’s lack of response may have inspired the demonstration that happened April 5th.
Racist Incidents Rock Albion College Community Summary: On April 5th, 2021, a student writer for the Pleiad, Sam Semerau published an article detailing the series of racist incidents that plagued Albion College that spring. The timeline above details each incident and date. After the first incident, CampusSafety sent out an email notifying students about what had happened and that the case had been turned over to Albion Public Safety. Then the first of the series of racist graffiti was found on March 27th and an email was sent out to students by Kenna Williams, chief belonging officer and Title IX coordinator. When more racist graffiti was found on the 28th Williams made the decision to not send out an email to students. It was thought people were/would potentially be doing things to get a response. Upon the discovery of more racist graffiti on April 2nd both Campus Safety and the Office of Belonging sent out a joint email. The email offered a $1000 reward for any information that may lead to the discovery of the individual/s responsible, and stated criminal charges would be sought after the individual/s were found. The email also stated that Campus Safety increased patrols of the buildings where the graffiti was found and that “additional opportunities for dialogue and support are being planned”.
Dr. Johnson’s lack of response to the racist events until April 6th made people very upset. Dr. Johnson had made a large claim promising anti-racism and thus people expected him to do something about the situation. This article is very subtle in its criticism of president Johnson. Dr. Johnson was not reported attending the demonstration. The article only mentions Dr. Johnson once, stating on April 6th he sent out an email communicating the FBI is assisting the Albion police and Campus Safety. This email is notably sent out one day after the demonstration. A junior student made a particularly illuminating comment stating, “we can’t think that administration would do everything for us. We gotta bring it to attention. Why did we do this today? Because they weren’t listening, they didn’t hear us”. Given the context of how people felt about Dr. Johnson’s lack of response, it is likely that this is what the student is referring to. Some would argue that this large demonstration happened in response to Johnson’s lack of acknowledgement. The large number of people who showed up to support may have been an indication of how frustrated the campus community was feeling.
Lifting and Amplifying Black Voices Following Racist Incidents on Campus Summary: On April 7th, 2021, the senior photographer and co- marketing coordinator for the Pleiad, Peach Norman Owen published an article discussing the student organized demonstration that happened as a result of the series of racist incidents on campus. On April 5th 2021 about 450 people of the Albion College community gathered to “show support and help move toward change for the college’s Black community” (Norman Owen). This gathering, organized by students, was a response to the series of racist incidents that had happened about a week before. The event was led by student Jayson Sawyer, a senior at the time. They gathered at the quad and walked around the Kellogg Center. Many students spoke during the event, all stating their support for the Black community and promoting a sense of love and unity. Many of the students who spoke were originally from Albion. They spoke about trying to better the community’s relationship with Albion College, particularly emphasizing the work of the Albion Fellows program. Hazel Lias, an honored member of the Albion community, also spoke during this demonstration. She spoke out to students, asking them to write out what they would like from the Albion community. She stated the community really cares, and wants to hear the problems the students are facing so the community can work on fixing them. There is a large emphasis in this article on healing the college’s relationship with the community.
In the email Dr. Johnson sent out he states, “we know that there is a significant history of racial pain and trauma on campus, that the college has not always responded well to that pain and trauma, and we are taking action to repair our community. We will change and heal together as a community, because we are committed to doing the work. Right now, we encourage all members of our community to listen, respond and care for one another, and lean on the faculty, staff, and community members who have been gathering today to make sure we are supporting you. We have your back.” After this statement Dr. Johnson did nothing to facilitate healing and repair of the Albion community. Both in regards to the college itself and the surrounding community.
Student Identified for Racist Mitchell Towers Graffiti Summary: On April 7th, 2021, a student writer for the Pleiad, Sam Semerau published an article discussing the identification of the student who was responsible for the graffiti in Mitchell Towers. The student responsible for the graffiti in Mitchell Towers was identified on April 7th. President Johnson released an email saying the individual was a person of color. In that email he states that he had met with prominent members of the community, students, and staff to discuss how to address the college’s response. He also addresses the fact that the college has an unfortunate history of racism and that this time the college is committed to helping people heal after these events.
This is the only article that the Pleiad directly references the backlash Johnson was receiving. Likely due to many of the claims against Johnson being based on hearsay. Although Dr. Johnson’s lack of support of Albion’s Black community after the racist events in April were not mentioned in the Pleiad before this article. The lack of support while students of color were being harassed after the events in April was inexcusable. Dr. Johnson had made great claims about anti-racism early on in his presidency. It is evident here that Dr. Johnson releases a lot of statements yet seems to lack actions to back up these statements.
Johnson Inaugurated Amid Petition Backlash Summary: On September 24th the editor-in-chief of the Pleiad, Sam Semerau published an article discussing Dr. Johnson's inauguration. Dr. Johnson was inaugurated on September 18th 2021. Before his inauguration there was a petition created asking for Dr. Johnson removal from Albion College. On September 16th it had around 1,300 signatures. At the date of the article’s publication, September 24th 2021, it had over 1,800 signatures. This article states that one of the accusations against Dr. Johnson claimed that he had “ignored the harassment of people of color (POC) on campus following anti-Black racist incidents around and on campus in April”. On September 16th Dr. Johnson sent out a “campus-wide communication” in regards to the petition. Dr. Johnson claimed it corrected “several pieces of misinformation in the petition”. The article does not detail if Dr. Johnson addressed any of the claims in the petition beyond that statement. Dr. Johnson claimed “In the last 18 months, Albion’s leadership team has made tough decisions, and those decisions have not been popular with everyone, which is to be expected. That said, there are some who are opposed to the changes that we have made. Some of those people are choosing to go outside the norms of respectful, honorable, accountable debate over differences and instead spread misinformation that erodes trust and creates conflict”.
Bibliography
Citations in order of appearance
- Britton, Hannah. “Introducing Albion’s 17th President: Dr. Mathew Johnson.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), April. 24th, 2020.
- Kendi, Ibram. How To Be an Antiracist. Random House's One World, August. 19th, 2019.
- Johnson, Mathew. President-Elect Johnson: Albion Must Be Boldly and Courageously Anti-Racist. Albion College News Articles, June. 2nd, 2020.
- Semerau, Sam. “Racist Incidents Rock Albion College Community.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), April. 5th, 2021.
- Norman Owen, Peach. “Lifting and Amplifying Black Voices Following Racist Incidents on Campus.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), April. 7th, 2021.
- Semerau, Sam. “Student Identified for Racist Mitchell Towers Graffiti.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), April. 7th, 2021.
- Semerau, Sam. “Johnson Inaugurated Amid Petition Backlash.” The Albion Pleiad (Albion, MI), September. 24th, 2021.
Biography
Ella Hardwick is a junior chemistry major with a minor in environmental studies at Albion College. She is originally from Seattle Washington. She was a freshman in 2021 when Dr. Johnson left his position. She heard all sorts of stories about him during this time. Once Johnson left, people mostly avoided discussing him. She saw that no one had reflected on Dr. Johnson's tumultuous time at Albion College and got curious as to why, inspiring her to pursue this project. She works part time as a student researcher and at a daycare in Albion. After graduating from Albion College Ella plans to pursue a PhD in environmental chemistry. She has hopes for a world where people listen to one another's stories and learn from them.
