The tangle of secrecy and misdirection around the Divinity School's conduct covenant grows deeper. Over the weekend, Willie Jennings was quoted in The News & Observer of Raleigh, saying of the covenant, "It's highly unlikely that anything close to a majority of students didn't know anything about it."
Come again?
I was a leader in the Student Life Ministry at the Divinity School from 1998 to 2001. I cannot recall ever discussing or being asked to share with students the formulation of such a conduct code. Having contacted former co-coordinators of the SLM between the years 1999 and 2001, I find that their knowledge and involvement in drafting this policy is nothing like what the deans have publicly stated. I have three former student leaders' recollections in writing, and all deny having seen a policy to be presented for student opinion. When I addressed Jennings about his statement, he declined to offer me an explanation for his comments.
That is highly disturbing, given the faculty and administration's insistence on trust and truthfulness in the conduct covenant. In my eyes, it constitutes a flagrant violation of their own policy. If our faculty and administration call us to "live in Christian community, be accountable to one another, and open to judgment," I wonder how they will respond to being caught in the act of mistruth? If they are serious about openness to accountability and truthfulness, they will rescind the conduct covenant until the students who will live under the policy have a real opportunity to voice their views and concerns.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.