Chronicling the Unjust Arrest of James DeBardelaben
The Role of Student Media in Showing Perspectives on Issues of Rights and Race
Introduction
James DeBardelaben was a student at Albion College in the late 80's and early 90's, and appeared in the Albion Pleiad several times between 1989-1992. Between 1989-1991, mentions of his name were in the context of his success on the Albion College Football Team, where he achieved first team status in December of 1989.
In 1992, his name became recognizable for a different reason. In October, 1992 a dining hall staff member accused him of stealing a sandwich in Lower Baldwin Hall, which, as a student paying for board, he denied.
Campus safety was called, and he was asked to leave. When he did not, the Albion police were called, and DeBardelaben was arrested. This event would spark a campus-wide movement demanding justice for DeBardelaben, and a wider conversation about student rights. Articles surrounding the event and its consequences were published in the Pleiad for the next five issues, documenting protests, letters of support, some for DeBardelaben and some for the dining services workers, editorial messages from the Pleiad staff, and further news coverage.
This project is intended to show the timeline of these events, emphasizing the role of student media in presenting and documenting differing perspectives on issues of race.
Timeline
The events following the arrest, and opinions from a variety of perspectives on the arrest were chronicled in six editions of the Albion Pleiad, across four months.
October 25, 1992
James DeBardelaben is arrested in the Baldwin Hall cafeteria for refusing to leave after being accused of stealing a sandwich.
October 30, 1992
The Pleiad publishes the first part of the story covering the arrest. The same day, students conducted a sit-in outside of President Vulgamore's office, delivering a list of demands that focused on student rights - DeBardelaben among them.
November 1, 1992
A forum open to all students is held in Norris 101, with Panelists Dale Dopp, Leonard Berkey, Preston Hicks, President Vulgamore, and Donald Omaha. During this forum, Jeff Snyder, a senior student and the campus safety officer who first responded to the arrest states that he thought he was responding to a fight, because that's what it was being called over the radio. When he got there, he "saw DeBardelaben and his friends sitting quietly at their table."
November 6, 1992
The Pleiad publishes the second part of the story covering the arrest, titled: "Was Student Arrest Racist?" Also published in the Pleiad editorial column, "As We See it," is an opinion titled "Focusing on Unity," praising DeBardelaben's activism after his arrest. The Black Student Alliance also publishes a letter, calling for greater effort by the campus community in making equitable change. Finally, a letter is published from a freshman student, criticizing the administration for their handling of the incident, titled "Freshman questions school administration."
November 13, 1992
An article titled "More Than Skin Deep: What it's like to be a Person of Color on a Predominantly White Campus" is published on the front page, featuring the voices of Black students on Albion's campus and the Black Student Alliance's argument for greater diversity and support for diverse students. In the Pleiad's editorial column, "As We See it," an opinion titled "Hope for Diversity" calls attention to Albion's lack of diversity, and asks for greater effort to increase diversity. Also in the same edition, a letter from five dining and hospitality staff members to the editor titled "DeBardelaben's Version Questioned" is published, criticizing DeBardelaben and the Pleiad's coverage. The Asian Awareness Group also publishes a letter supporting DeBardelaben.
November 20, 1992
An English professor, Eugene Miller publishes a letter to the Pleiad, criticizing the focus on "culture" in the campus response, proposing gender and ethics perspectives, and ultimately asking for greater unity in the campus community. Political Science Professor Charles E. Schutz would also publish a letter titled "Schutz calls student arrest an injustice to Baldwin workers" calling the response to the arrest an issue of class attacking dining services workers. Also in this edition, the Pleiad's editorial column, "As We See it," titled "More to the Story?" asks for greater empathy for campus staff affected by the events of the arrest.
December 4, 1992
In the Pleiad's editorial column "As We See it," the sit-in on October 30th advocating for students rights and Schutz's piece criticizing the college for classism are praised as "Hits." DeBardelaben's arrest and the administration's gag order on dining service workers involved in the arrest are critiqued as "Misses."
January 22, 1993
The Pleiad publishes an article covering the result of the investigation of dining services by the college, resulting in Dining Services supervisor Gloria Gillette being fired.
Perspectives in the Pleiad
"Student Rights: Students sit in at ad Building to Protest a 'Violation' of Their Rights”
Published November 6, 1992
Written by Rebecca Daniel, one of the reporters covering the original story of the arrest, this story covers the October 30 sit-in outside the president's office, five days after the arrest.
This story begins with a statement, saying that in the 60’s, it wasn’t uncommon for college students to protest on campus. In the 60’s, the civil rights movement was in full swing, and protests revolving around student rights and racism were being organized all over the country. This statement suggests that this is the first large student protest at Albion since then.
In this article, DeBardelaben is quoted again, and he states that the movement is not about racism, but student’s rights, as his right as a student were violated when he was arrested unjustly. This is an interesting moment in the Pleiad for this statement, as students saying they thought the arrest was an issue of racism are quoted in the second part of the coverage of the arrest in the same edition.
Both perspectives are present, though neither is given priority over the other in the writing of the piece.
“Was Student Arrest Racist?”
Published November 6, 1992
Also written by Rebecca Daniel and Melissa Kelley (The Managing Editor of the Pleiad), this is the second part of the original news story covering the arrest of James DeBardelaben 12 days earlier.
The first part was published a week earlier, five days after the arrest.
This story provides further perspective from students like Allegan Freshman Matt Lynn and Baldwin worker Kelly Kissinger, who call the arrest an act of discrimination and racism, respectively.
The story also quotes DeBardelaben, who speaks about how the arrest has affected him. He said he had been called “famous,” and questioned for his decision not to leave the cafeteria, to which he responds that he was "humiliated and degraded and [he] didn't appreciate it." DeBardelaben said he stayed because he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
This moment in the story brings attention to the reality of the arrest – among all of the opinions quoted in the article, it is still ultimately true that DeBardelaben’s reputation is permanently changed, and harm was done.
"BSA Responds to Arrest"
Published November 6, 1992
This letter, written by the Black Student Alliance (BSA) at Albion College, was also published in the November 6, 1992 edition of the Pleiad.
According to an entry in the 1991 Albion College yearbook, the Albionian, DeBardelaben was a member of the BSA.
In this letter, the BSA takes a stance in support of DeBardelaben, articulating the ways in which the group has deemed the arrest an unjust violation of student’s rights.
They ask questions about why DeBardelaben’s actions were considered suspicious in the first place, and ultimately make it clear that the arrest of a Black student on campus is an important, dangerous moment. This letter clearly shows the argument behind student concerns over their rights on campus, as well as the connection to DeBardelaben’s identity as a Black man.
This incident could happen to anyone, which is cause enough for concern, but it didn’t – it happened to DeBardelaben.
As the letter goes on, the BSA notes that the mere presence of Preston Hicks, the Director of Minority Affairs at the college, is not enough to prevent incidents like these. They make it clear that this is not because Hicks should be doing more, but because the overall culture on campus should be socially conscious enough not to allow these kinds of biased escalations to happen.
The BSA is also clear in pointing out the actual language of the policy allowing for the arrest, and their letter is the first to do so.
Letters to the editor play an important part in journalism, as they allow parties to tell their own stories, in their own words.
“As We See it: Hope for Diversity”
Published November 13, 1992
“As We See it,” is an editorial column written by the editorial staff, including the Editor-in-Chief at the time, Geoff Lumetts, and the Managing Editor, Melissa Kelly. This weekly opinion represents the majority consensus of the Editorial staff.
This editorial was published 19 days after DeBardelaben’s arrest.
Also in this edition, as mentioned here, are an article titled "More Than Skin Deep" on the BSA's efforts to boost minority enrollment, and a letter of support for DeBardelaben from the Asian Awareness Group.
After beginning with a declarative statement on the realities of Albion’s campus as a predominantly white, middle-class, Christian college, the Pleiad editorial staff takes the stance that solving issues of diversity has more to with making Albion College a safe and accepting space than it does recruiting more diverse students.
The Pleiad then quotes then president Melvin Vulgamore, who states that being open to racial diversity is the greatest challenge to democracy – which implies that a truly representative campus, and/or government, needs to be open to diversity. This quote also implies that broad acceptance of this is something that the staff and the president see as a challenge to the campus and the nation as a whole.
Editorials are the only time a staff can be truly and openly opinionated about a topic in journalism, and thus hold a lot of power. However, throughout the Pleiad, it must be said that there is still power, though more objectively wielded, held by the editorial staff, many of which have reported on DeBardelaben’s arrest and edited the subsequent pieces.
"DeBardelaben’s Version Questioned"
Published November 13, 1992
This letter was written by five staff members of the GMP Local 120B, Dining and Hospitality Services and Physical Plant, including Judy Deyoe, Sandy Carter, Sandy Smith, Wand Mcintosh, and Bruce Moore.
This letter was published 19 days after DeBardelaben’s arrest.
In this letter, the dining hall workers call DeBardelaben a "celebrity," and say that during the incident, he was "vulgar and verbally abusive."
The Pleiad has not published anything since the arrest that would suggest that DeBardelaben was vulgar in the moment, or that the dining hall workers had been subjected to any harrassment. However, importantly, this letter suggests that dining hall workers had been told not to talk about the arrest. This piece also makes no mention of race.
Overall, this letter is written to defend dining hall and campus safety workers that were simply enforcing policy - and it is the first piece to, per the title, question DeBardelaben's account. This piece marks a shift in the conversation surrounding the arrest, and further letters and an "As We See it" column would be published concerning the rights of the dining hall workers.
This is the important function letters serve, in action - to give perspectives that might otherwise be heard.
Biography
Bonnie Lord, Environmental Science Major, 26’
Bonnie is a sophomore from Alma, Michigan, and has attended predominantly white institutions all her life. Albion College is no exception – though the student body is very diverse. Lord is also a white, cisgendered woman from a middle-class upbringing, an intersectional identity crucial to be mindful of while researching the arrest of a Black man in the 1990s.
Lord is also the current Managing Editor of the Albion Pleiad, a role which has contextualized and benefited from the research and analysis this project has required.
