Finance, Public Health Policy Majors Approved; President Iuliano Addresses Racial Slur Incident at 9/26 Faculty Meeting

Posted By Vincent DiFonzo on Sep 26, 2024 | 1 comment

Pennsylvania Hall at Gettysburg College pictured in 2022. (Aly Leia Wein/The Gettysburgian)

By Vincent DiFonzo, Editor-in-Chief

On Thursday, the faculty held their third meeting of the academic year, in which President Iuliano addressed the investigation into the racial slur incident and the faculty voted to pass two new major proposals: finance and public health policy. 

President Bob Iuliano opened the meeting by speaking on the racial slur incident and its effect on the College community. The incident was first reported by the Gettysburgian last Wednesday. Iuliano recognized the national media attention caused by the incident, as well as rumors and speculation that followed. 

“This is also, I was just saying to someone perhaps the most, one of the more complicated and nuanced cases I’ve seen in my time in higher education. And it has certainly generated more than its share of speculation in the media, in social media,” Iuliano stated. 

Iuliano reiterated that privacy laws have prevented the College from releasing more detailed information on the incident. 

“We’ve also been trying to be clear that I know people want us to talk about the facts, but there is federal law that precludes us from doing so, and that’s frustrating to us, it’s frustrating to students, it’s frustrating to the community,” he said. “But what I would say is, if you have a moment to just look at what has been talked about in the various settings in which it’s been talked about, you will begin to see some of the complexities that I’ve talked about, raising really important questions about consent, identity, accountability, race based trauma. All of these complexities very much inform how the college has sought to respond to this.”

Despite “complexities,” Iuliano said that what happened was unacceptable and never appropriate on the Gettysburg campus. 

“I want to be perfectly clear, notwithstanding the complexities, no one should doubt that this is an event that is horrific and not appropriate for this campus, and it doesn’t really matter what the context was that led to this,” he said. 

Iuliano said that the incident did not “happen in isolation,” and explained that it is part of “a pattern of activities across society and issues that we have on our campus.” He reaffirmed that Chief Diversity Officer Eloisa Gordon-Mora “has been working hard on concrete steps to advance our commitment to create a more welcoming and inclusive community.”

Iuliano said, “I’ve asked [Gordon-Mora], as my note said, to undertake this work to build on the initiatives that she’s already started. The next step, I think, is to come together as a campus to put some of the longstanding issues that have been affecting this campus and society before us on the table to join forces in tackling these issues.”

He shared that the College has been in contact with the Black Student Union and African Student Association for their input on these initiatives. 

“[Gordon-Mora] and I will be in touch as our plan comes into sharper focus,” Iuliano said. 

The meeting then shifted to the finance major proposal. The floor was opened for faculty questions and comments, in which no faculty spoke. The finance major was voted on and approved. 

Next, the public health policy major proposal was voted on. Before the vote, a biology professor, speaking on behalf of their department, expressed support for the proposal.

The public health policy major proposal was passed by the faculty. With both proposals passed, students will be able to declare either of the new majors beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. 

Next, Iuliano opened the floor for announcements. One faculty member invited others to attend a joint Black Student Union and African Student Association meeting addressing the racial slur incident, which was held immediately following the faculty meeting at 5 p.m. in CUB 260. The two student organizations previously released a statement on the incident. 

Another faculty member invited others to attend Ovation, an event that recognizes the work of faculty. Ovation will be held on Friday between 4 and 6 p.m. in the Musselman Library apse.

Iuliano then adjourned the meeting.