A More Diverse Epoch for The Honors Program?

Reported by Aurora Biggers      

NEWBERG, Ore. - The George Fox Honors Program (GFHP) began its enterprise with the incoming class in 2014. Since its genesis, the program has experienced its fair share of commendations and criticisms. One criticism is the program’s lack of diversity. 

Students have questioned the program's canon of “great texts,” often citing that the canon is solely composed of “dead, white men.” The program has since re-evaluated its proverbial bookshelf and now boasts a more “generous canon,” which includes more non-western perspectives and female authors. This is an effort which new GFHP director Dr. Javier Garcia says is vital. “Diversity is not just in modernity,” Garcia said.

Garcia began his tenure as director this summer, taking over from Dr. Abigail Favale amidst the program’s controversial name change. Prior to the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the program was known as the “William Penn Honors Program.” 

Dr. Mark Hall, who teaches in the program, told The Crescent that William Penn was chosen as the program’s figurehead because of his Quaker background and support of liberal arts education. However, according to Garcia, when a student performed a spoken word at GFU and claimed to be a descendant of slaves owned by William Penn, the program was forced to begin re-evaluating the name. Hall says William Penn scholar, Arthur Roberts, was consulted and did verify that Penn indeed owned slaves.

Students began a petition for a name change in June, which coincided, incidentally, with an email Garcia had already drafted in support of the name change. “Over the summer, with the killing of George Floyd, it did reach a point where we were in-step with what was going on publicly,” Garcia said, “and [we] wanted to move forward with the name change.” 

Though the program’s choice to abandon its namesake was primarily driven by a desire to be racially conscious, Garcia did note that other conversations had taken place to change the name for marketing purposes. 

The name change did come with economic consequences for the program though and cost approximately $4,600 in marketing damages. But for Garcia, the economic trade-off was worth it. “I feel very good about making that change, that [change] being part of the beginning of my tenure as director, and acknowledging the student desire and public consciousness when it comes to racial injustice,” he said.

Part of the program’s more energized focus on diversity is increasing recruitment for students of color. According to admissions specialist Abby Buckles, students of color made up ten percent of the program’s inaugural class in 2014. In contrast, students of color make up 25 percent of the 2020 freshman class.

Garcia’s new efforts include prioritizing recruitment at public schools with higher demographics of students of color, as opposed to the program’s typical recruitment at largely white, private Christian and classical education schools.

However, diversity in numbers isn’t everything. Buckles is acutely aware of this, stating, “there is a tension of wanting to increase diversity without it becoming a token action.” Buckles harkens back to student criticism, also a graduate of the first class, and notes that a diverse curriculum is necessary in creating space for students of color, “classical education isn’t just about old, dead, white men.”

To create a welcoming space for students of color, Garcia has begun to institute new efforts. The current program interns, for example, are reading Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman, an African-American minister, theologian, and civil rights leader. The program’s faculty will follow suit with a reading group on racial justice. Garcia also hopes to hold a program wide forum on race and justice.

Garcia noted potential plans for a new space designated for students of color, especially third culture kids, in the program to discuss and process their experiences. Garcia, a third culture kid, himself, understands the need for this space. “I am constantly wrestling with these different identities I have within myself,” Garica said.

Satoshi Seth, a senior in the program and also a third culture kid, spoke with The Crescent about his experiences as a student of color in the honors program.“I struggled really hard my first year at Fox,” Seth said, “but the honors program was really helpful for me in adjusting to the USA.” 

The program was beneficial, according to Seth, in part because of the unique principles of discourse, chiefly loving everyone in the room and extending charity to the texts. Seth said these principles “are inclusive and potentially anti-racist, if we take them to the extent I think we should take them to.” 

“What gives me hope for the honors program,” Seth said, “is that unlike other departments in humanities, it has sustained funding.” Funding is the crux of increasing diversity in the program, according to Garcia. Students of color don’t lack interest in the program, Garcia said, but the program lacks the funding to offer suitable or competitive scholarships. Garcia says the program would love to see an increase in endowments, that they may offer higher scholarships to students who need them. 

Diversity is a priority according to Garcia because “in some ways it’s bigger than the honors program. It’s how our conversations in class translate into our daily lives.” Garcia said that setting out to create discourse and diversity is vital for these conversations. “It’s important exercise for Christians to open their mind to other perspectives that they might not be familiar with,” said Garcia, “but also to exercise love to people they might not understand or even agree with.” 

On considering the new direction of the program’s diversity efforts and the value of increasing ethnic diversity, Buckles said, “Diversity of thought and opinion is best practiced in an environment that is diverse as well.”

By building a directorship focused on diversity, perhaps Garcia has begun a new epoch for the honors program—a more liberal and diverse one.