Mitchell Hamline School of Law

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Mitchell Hamline announces further steps to address campus concerns over world events

Posted: November 3, 2023

Below is an email sent Friday, November 3, by Mitchell Hamline School of Law interim President and Dean Jim Hilbert.
(To read his previous three statements from Oct. 10, 12, and 19, click here.)

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

Thank you to all of you who have been so courageous and helpful to me and to each other during these very difficult past three weeks. Amid unprecedented grief and catastrophe, I am heartened by the care, compassion, and understanding I have witnessed our students, staff, and faculty extending to one another.

I am writing today to share with you our next steps as an administration and an institution to address the concerns that have mostly included allegations of Antisemitism but have also related to other forms of discrimination, including Islamophobia.

The media have noticed these allegations and published the following stories:

At our core, Mitchell Hamline does not accept or tolerate discrimination of any kind, and we are listening to you as we develop our plan of action. Many of these ideas have been suggested or prompted by you. I want to share what I have been hearing and learning from you.

Some Jewish and other members of the Mitchell Hamline community have shared with me their profound disappointment with how long it took me to acknowledge the terror attacks on October 7th. They have shared how they feel isolated, abandoned, ignored, and even unsafe in the wake of such a grievous and horrific event. They have told me that while they struggle to mourn the loss of life and care for family members, they have witnessed everything from indecently insensitive comments to Antisemitism and hate speech.

Some Muslim, Palestinian, Middle Eastern, and other members of the Mitchell Hamline community have shared with me their deep concern, pain, and disappointment that my previous statements to our community were one-sided and failed to express adequate concern for Palestinian lives. They have shared their concerns that by expressing their support for Palestinian rights they risk falsely being labeled as supporting terrorism or Antisemitism; that they are unable to voice their concerns without others raising false charges of discrimination or supporting violence or taking away their voice. They also report to me that they have been subjected to silencing, stereotyping, bias, and hate speech.

We have work to do. I want to reiterate the responsibilities that we all share:

  1. Improving and enhancing our inclusive learning environment.
  2. Confronting difficult and emotional issues, including global current events, with self-reflection and self-awareness, civility and professionalism, and collegiality and cooperation.
  3. Expanding our understanding as an institution and as individuals of discrimination and bigotry, most recently as Antisemitism and Islamophobia and working toward the eradication of these and all forms of discrimination and bigotry.
  4. Continuing to implement our Workplace Culture Plan and our Strategic Plan, which include initiatives to improve our internal communication and build our working relationships that are grounded in mutual respect and accountability.

The below list is a start. We will find opportunities to do more, and many will do other important things that will contribute to meeting our shared responsibilities.

 1. Continue to address concerns and complaints of all forms of discrimination, including allegations of Antisemitism and Islamophobia:

    1. Continue to communicate and enforce our standards against discrimination and hold accountable individuals who breach our standards.
    2. Conduct investigations and use appropriate available avenues, some of which may be confidential, to ensure consequences when members of our community breach those standards.
    3. Clarify and communicate the possible reporting and disciplinary options that flow from the standards and raise awareness of our student complaint process.

2. Support mental and emotional wellness among members of our community:

    1. Strive to make available greater resources for students for counseling and informal support and explore ways to provide mental health support to those in our community who have been directly impacted by the recent events.
    2. Continue to provide assistance resources to faculty and staff.
    3. The Dean and Administration will enhance their outreach to connect with and offer support to our impacted colleagues.

3. Safeguard our campus.

    1. Continue to require students to enter at the front entrance.
    2. Continue to limit access to campus by requiring nonmembers of our community to enter at the front entrance and to register at the front desk.
    3. Coordinate security and the monitoring of potential threats to our community with the St. Paul Police Department and the department’s law enforcement partners.
    4. Maintain additional security personnel during high-volume times, such as Orientation and Capstone Week.
    5. Provide additional awareness training for incidents and security protocols.

4. Expand the work of, and enhance support for, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to include, more explicitly, addressing Antisemitism and Islamophobia along with other forms of discrimination:

    1. Develop programming designed to build awareness around issues of Antisemitism and Islamophobia, and the conflict in the Middle East.
    2. Create a more standardized process for supporting student affinity groups and affinity community events.
    3. Seek external expertise and support as necessary to address issues that might be outside the expertise of the institution.
    4. Support collaboration with the Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee on existing initiatives, including developing educational resources.

5. The administration will convene the chairs of the faculty committees to explore ways in which faculty committees can support and enhance this work.

6. The administration will lead a cross-functional working group to:

    1. Propose and review draft policies or processes to help us realize our commitment to being a more inclusive learning environment, including, but not limited to:
      1. School-wide policies on the use of social media
      2. Clarification and expansion of professional conduct standards for faculty and staff
      3. School-wide policies clarifying the use of the building and of our outdoor spaces, and
      4. Other policies and processes designed to provide guidance to our community for future challenges.
    2. Plan and conduct forums and other activities to educate and help build and restore connections across different perspectives

This working group will include faculty, administrators, staff, students, and representatives of the Board of Trustees.

Throughout the coming days and months, our work will be grounded, as it must be, in our Mission and Values. I look forward to our work together to advance our values, restore our relationships, and meet the responsibilities we share as members of the Mitchell Hamline community.

I hope each of you will join me, as you are able, in this work.

~ Jim Hilbert, interim president and dean