Kington releases new plan post Posse decision
April 29, 2016
Eva Lilienfeld, News Editor
lilienfe17@grinnell.edu
Following a semester of extensive review of Grinnell’s relationship with the Posse Foundation, President Raynard Kington announced that Grinnell will no longer accept new Posse cohorts as of April 13. After Grinnell’s decision to sever ties with the Posse foundation, students and alumni responded quickly, with 400 alumni signing onto a letter to Kington calling for more information about new programs that would replace Posse. The group received a response from Kington’s office on April 15 and is currently soliciting signatures online for a second response letter.
“Ostensibly, this plan has been under development for quite some time. Why, then, must the College consult with stakeholders and gather feedback from students now? Shouldn’t the input have been incorporated early in the process so that it could have a meaningful impact?” the second letter reads.
Since then, Kington has released a draft framework to provide additional support to the student body in a Special Campus Memo sent on Wednesday, April 28. The draft framework detailed a plan to expand PCPOP, develop a common reading list and support diversity and leadership on campus in other ways.
“We know that our students do not experience life at Grinnell equally, and that students do not encounter the social and cultural environment of the campus in equal terms,” read the memo.
In the same email, Kington also called on the College community for input on the proposed plan.
Many students, however, are still disappointed with Grinnell’s decision not to accept any more Posse scholars. Throughout the week, students have taken to Facebook event planning and postering through the loggias to encourage students to attend the Posse Solidarity Rally, which will take place today at 5 p.m. outside JRC 101.
420weedsmut • May 5, 2016 at 6:14 pm
the idea that the common reading list was the 2nd item on the list and that there was no commitment to explicitly expand scholarships and financial aid for students from underrepresented backgrounds speaks to how basic/vanilla/diet his plan is. It mostly felt like an amalgamation of stuff they were doing otherwise and calling it part of their plan for diversity. Marginalized communities at grinnell need outspoken faculty to hold the administration accountable. Folding student affairs into academic affairs, transforming SA’s into RA’s and eliminating Posse all share a common goal in eliminating insitutions which support and advocate on student’s behalf as opposed to sending them an email when their grades are low (academic affairs).