BSC Community:

This evening, I am writing the Birmingham-Southern community to share my thoughts and feelings on today’s unprecedented events in Washington, D.C. Many of you have watched the United States Capitol be invaded by a mob. One of the greatest symbols of democracy in the world has been desecrated by people who rail against the democratic process that is the foundation of our government, processes designed to project and protect the will of the people. For those of you reading this who have never seen anything like this, who find this insurrection unprecedented and unnerving, I share those feelings. As I write these words, it is my hope that the worst of this insurrection is over.

As the president of this college and leader of this community, I hope to create an environment where we can disagree respectfully and learn from each other. To do this, we require fundamental rules of discourse and mutual respect. We learn from our disagreements and we grow. We appreciate the importance of the community and what it takes to maintain it. The attributes of this academic community reflect the ideals of our country as whole. These ideals were trampled upon tonight.

This summer, I read biographies of all of the founding fathers. In the light of recent events, I was curious on how these men would stack up. Were they as insightful, as special as they have been made out to be? In short, I would say yes. But this question is for another time. What struck me from all of this reading is that one person of the seven stood out. He was the only founding father who always put our country before himself and his ambitions. He was the least educated of the seven but was the only one to command the respect of all the others. I am referring to George Washington. Ironically, his greatest contribution to our country may have been his choice to walk away from power after two terms as president. He was determined to see a peaceful transition of leadership to demonstrate and to preserve for the future the precedent that our country is greater than any one person.

In his farewell address, he warns us of the risks we will face in the preservation of our democracy. He states that this government is legitimate in that it is has been adopted of our “own choice.” It deserves our “respect for its authority.”

“This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty.” 

We, of course, have the right to change our government and our constitution. We have done so many times to important ends like expanding enfranchisement to include all Americans in our democratic process. The Constitution guides us on how to make change in order to protect the will of the people.  Without going through the Constitution, the will of the people is being ignored.

The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. (www.ourdocuments.gov)

To be clear, everyone has right to petition their government, to protest. This is guaranteed by the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. What we are seeing tonight disregards our Constitution. Today, mobs challenged the fundamental democratic process and tried to impose their will over this process, outside Constitutional parameters as Washington warned us in 1796.

I reflect upon Washington’s prediction because I want to put tonight’s events into perspective. In its relatively short history, our government has endured challenges to its legitimacy many times. I believe that with each of these challenges, we have strengthened our resolve as citizens to not just protect the processes that project the will of the people, but to expand them to include all the people, further increasing our government’s legitimacy. I am optimistic that while we are witnessing history tonight, the events of tonight will be a footnote in a future history book. I am hopeful, however, that our outrage at these events, regardless of our political leanings, will bring us closer together as we share a common bond as citizens of the leading democracy of the world.

Even with a little perspective, today’s events in Washington, D.C. may cause considerable stress and worry, especially given everything else we are dealing with in the middle of a pandemic. The BSC community is a place of support and strength in difficult times, and your health and safety are of the utmost importance. News coverage, social media images, and videos of violence can inflict a mental and emotional toll. We want to take this opportunity to remind students, faculty, and staff of available resources.

For counseling services, students can email Cara Blakes ([email protected]).

For employees of BSC, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available – providing unlimited telephone access to EAP professionals 24 hours a day, three face-to-face sessions with a counselor, and access to a resource library – by calling (800) 316-2796 or visiting www.mutualofomaha.com/eap.

We will come through this together and, I think, become a stronger country. In the meantime, the BSC community is here for you if we can help in any way.

Daniel B. Coleman
President