Philadelphia City Council adopted a resolution Oct. 13 condemning Chestnut Hill College for its appeal to the Commonwealth Court of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s finding of racial discrimination involving a former student, and urging the school to withdraw its appeal. College officials, however, say they are not backing down, denying “any and all allegations of race discrimination,” which they believe are “completely false.”
The city council fears that the school’s appeal could allow other religiously affiliated schools in Pennsylvania to seek exemption from the state’s human relations and fair educational opportunities acts. The resolution, passed 14–3, was introduced on Oct. 5 by Councilwoman Helen Gym, a former teacher and education activist, and was co-sponsored by Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who represents the council district of the school, and councilmembers Derek Green and Jannie Blackwell.
“No religious institution should be exempted from human relation laws especially if it is taking public money,” Gym said.
Resolutions, however, are not enforceable; they only reflect the city council’s sentiments on significant matters and may create public pressure on the censured institution.
Despite the resolution and the council’s opposition to the legal action, college President Sr. Carol Jean Vale, SSJ, said the school will not withdraw its appeal of the human relation commission’s ruling to the Commonwealth Court, where additional briefs were due Oct. 17.
“We’re not looking to be exempted from anti-discrimination laws,” Vale said. “We are absolutely committed to racial equality for everyone and to being inclusive, equitable, just, fair in everything that we do. But we’re asking the question whether or not the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has the jurisdiction to hear this case.”
The appeal stems from a discrimination lawsuit filed against the school by a black student, Allan-Michael Meads, who was expelled from the college in March 2012, a few weeks before he was scheduled to graduate.
According to the report from the human relations commission, in the fall of 2011, Meads staged a production of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” and gave out complimentary show tickets to local businesses and middle school students. Meads donated 20 percent of the play’s proceeds to the Lupus Foundation and spent the remaining of the profits on a cast party. Meads was expelled at the end of March for alleged theft and failing to truthfully report accurate proceeds from the play.
Meads was asked to pay $2,248 — the figure the school assumed the play made from ticket concessions — and did so in order to transfer to Cheyney University, where he finished his degree.
In July 2015, the state’s human relations commission found probable cause that the excessiveness of the school’s disciplinary action against Meads was due to his race. After analyzing the school’s disciplinary history, the commission ruled that students of color were treated more harshly than white students, which put the college in violation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act.
The “terms of adjustment” set forth by the human relations commission require the college to reimburse Meads for the $2,248 he paid to the school in restitution, reimburse Meads for the tuition he spent at Cheyney University following his expulsion, pay Meads the sum of a three-year salary of an average Chestnut Hill graduate, and provide diversity training to all involved in Meads’ expulsion.
The college appealed the commission’s ruling to the state’s Commonwealth Court, claiming that the disciplinary practices of a Catholic institution are exempt from oversight by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. Courts have previously held that “distinctly private institutions,” such as Catholic high schools, are exempt from such oversight, according to a public letter written by Christina Abbott, counsel for the college.
“Let me be clear, no institution, religious or otherwise, has the freedom to racially discriminate,” said Gym, in a statement released after the resolution’s passage. “Chestnut Hill’s appeal not only threatens to undermine the civil rights of its own students, current and former, but also the civil rights of thousands of students enrolled in over fifty private colleges and universities across the Commonwealth.”
These proceeding would not exempt the college from federal oversight; all colleges who accept financial aid are subject to federal anti-discrimination laws and the college will still be accountable to the federal court.
In vocalizing her support for the resolution, Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown said she found it “disheartening” that a religious higher learning institution would ignore its student’s claim of discrimination.
However, college officials deny wrongdoing.
“Chestnut Hill College explicitly and categorically denies any and all allegations of race discrimination and emphatically disputes the validity of the assertions made in the Philadelphia City Council Resolution,” Vale wrote to the community on Oct. 7. “The College has been, is, and will continue to be welcoming and respectful of all persons, working with and for them as together we labor for a more just and equitable society.”
“If it is determined by the Court that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Council has jurisdiction, then the College is prepared to defend the underlying allegations,” Abbott wrote on Oct. 14. “To date, CHC has not been afforded the opportunity to rebut the allegations, which we believe are completely false.”
Vale’s statement says the college’s non-discrimination policy is congruent to the city’s anti-discrimination laws. The school’s response cites the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s extensive history of promoting equality and inclusivity as proof of its dedication to students of color at the college.
Following the introduction of the resolution, college leaders met with councilmembers Bass and Gym , members of their staff and the school’s attorneys to discuss the city’s allegations against the school. Vale expressed that the school shares a similar commitment to equality and diversity, however, both Vale and Bass amended that they agreed to disagree on the issue the resolution raised.
“I felt very strongly that the mission of the college and the Sisters of Saint Joseph really didn’t match the action of appealing the decision made by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission,” said Bass, following the adoption of the resolution.
Although it is common practice for the city to comment on the behavior of Philadelphia’s institutions and organizations, the council does not commonly “condemn” certain practices and events. The council has introduced only nine resolutions in the past decade that have used the language “condemn.” The most recent of these resolutions include a condemnation of current GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump for his racist and sexist sentiments, and of the defacement of a Muslim mosque in North Philadelphia.
Some alumni praised the city council’s action.
“We are hoping … that the college will use that resolution as a wake-up call to really see the dangerous precedent that this appeal can have,” said Jennifer Wilmot, one of the four founders of the CHC Alumni of Color Collective and a college alumnus.
The CHC Alumni of Color Collective, a grassroots organization formed in 2013, serves as a network of support for students of color at Chestnut Hill College and has taken a lead role in bringing attention to the college’s racially contentious disciplinary practices.
Although the school has not instituted any new anti-discrimination policies in reaction to the council’s resolution, anti-discrimination initiatives have been in progress since the introduction of the school’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity last year.
The new office was established in response to the national dialogue on racial unrest and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and is provisionally headed by Sr. Cecelia J. Cavanaugh, SSJ, dean of the School of Undergraduate Affairs. According to “A Path Forward,” the seventh and possibly final draft outlining the office’s proposed plans and responsibilities, this office will be responsible for ensuring the school’s diverse student body gets the support and recognition it needs to thrive on campus and in the workplace.
“We want people to participate in everything we do, to be evermore inclusive,” Cavanaugh said. “Every concern or goal that [the collective] gave us is in our strategic plan, ‘A Path Forward.’”
The school has hosted several listening sessions with the Chestnut Hill community, released surveys and incorporated community responses into their policies, required faculty and administration to attend training in non-bias hiring practices, and begun interviewing for a full time Acting Officer for Diversity and Inclusion.
Wilmot criticized the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for its lack of transparency and responsiveness to the concerns the Collective voiced. Although there have been open discussions concerning diversity and inclusivity at the school, Wilmot says, “It is always a conversation with no actions to follow up.”
