Walkout Letter to Parents

 
 
 
Gonzaga
President's Office
 
March 15, 2018
 
Educating Young Men in the Jesuit Tradition Since 1821
 
 

Dear Gonzaga Parents, Guardians, Faculty, Staff, and Students:

I am writing to address the questions that some parents have expressed over the school’s response to the student walkout yesterday.

For those students who participated in the 17-minute walkout and returned to class, no punishment was given. However, those who left campus after the initial walkout and marched to the Capitol each received JUG at the end of the day for leaving campus.

Some of you have asked: Why didn’t the school administration support the walkout? Moreover, why would Gonzaga “punish” its students for participating in a protest against gun violence? What kind of a school teaches being a Man for Others and then issues a detention for its students who choose to participate in this kind of a protest?

When the idea of this walkout first came to light weeks ago, student organizers approached the administration. They essentially wanted our blessing; our assurance that there would be no negative consequences; and our assistance in organizing the event.

Schools around the country took different approaches to this protest. In many schools, when the adults heard of this student initiative, they took control of it, organized it, and essentially orchestrated the “student” response from beginning to end. However, is it really student led if it is planned and executed by adults? I believe that the very power of this movement rests with the fact that it is coming from the students themselves.

After intense discussions about this among the school leadership, I insisted that our administration let the students decide the issue for themselves. I believed that our students would learn nothing about standing up for their beliefs if they received permission to do an act of scholastic “civil disobedience” with no consequences. A school walkout by its very definition requires students to break the rules to make a strong statement about something they care about. A walkout with the permission and blessing of the school is not a walkout.

As yesterday approached, everyone was wondering, would they get punished? What would the consequences be for standing up for themselves and for others?

In the end, hundreds of our boys walked out. So much did their protest mean to them that many continued walking past the administration who had warned them not to leave campus or “there would be consequences,” and they kept going all the way to the Capitol. It was truly a walkout, and larger than any Gonzaga-sanctioned protest I have seen in my years as president. I could not be more proud of the students who participated. Likewise, I am proud of the students who chose not to participate in the walkout. Our boys are taught that they should not do something simply because others are doing it. Standing up for your beliefs is complicated. It is one of the hallowed objectives of Jesuit education to teach our students how to think, and not necessarily what to think.

St. Ignatius taught us “to fight, and not to heed the wounds.” Civil disobedience for a cause in which you truly believe comes with uncertain outcomes, and often at a price. I wanted our boys to know that, experience it, and be willing to accept the consequences. I am proud of the boys who organized yesterday’s activities and risked standing up for themselves when the consequences were unknown. Yesterday, our boys truly were Men for Others.

I wish to thank Mr. Every, Mr. Jim Kilroy, Student Services, and our faculty and staff, for each playing an important part in helping our boys learn this valuable lesson.

May God bless you,

Rev. Stephen Planning, SJ Signature

Rev. Stephen Planning, SJ
President

 
 
 

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