Charles G. Lief: Very disappointed with investigation’s results
Naropa University reviewed the internal affairs findings and the body cam of the illegal and unprofessional encounter by Officer John Smyly against our student, Zayd Atkinson, lawfully working at his student residence.
There will be a conversation about the evidence. Central is the impact on a young black man confronted by nine officers, with Tasers, handguns and a shotgun drawn to counter fear of a 3-foot-long trash picker held many feet away.
Statements that weapons were “never pointed” at our student is a remarkable for its inference that Atkinson was more concerned for his life than was reasonable. No one who hasn’t faced loaded weapons can state how Zayd “should have acted.” The fact that Smyly skated on the charge of racial profiling based upon his statement that he didn’t initially see that Atkinson was a man of color is refuted by his own body cam and must be dismissed as a lie.
We are also very disappointed that Smyly is now on a funded vacation until February, receiving $80,000 for his abuse. Boulder must insist that the scope of the broader investigation by former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer address the failure of the other eight responding officers to immediately defuse the situation and to look at why the three minutes of missing audio while Smyly is questioned by his supervisor. “Forming a perimeter around Mr. Atkinson” exacerbated the situation and also must be examined.
Naropa was invited by the mayor and city manager collaborate in creating anti-bias training. We have both expertise and are willing to acknowledge that a primarily white institution in a primarily white city must work with awareness of the experiences of people of color, whom we invite to join us. We welcome the next steps in creating a process that leads to systemic change.
Charles G. Lief, president, Naropa University
Boulder
Tirzah Firestone: How can a woman do such a thing?
Many women around the country are in shock after Alabama’s female governor signed the most stringent abortion legislation since Roe v. Wade this week, effectively banning all abortions — even for incest and rape— and making performing an abortion a felony.
She was just defending Alabamians’ deeply held belief, Gov. Kay Ivey said, “that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God.” As a rabbi, I call this into question. Is this the way we honor sacred life? By putting women’s lives at risk? The statistics tell us that when reproductive rights are diminished, women suffer.
Why do people — in this case, women — vote against their own self-interests? One way to understand this is by understanding the psychology of trauma, which I have observed in my years of counseling patients. One of the repercussions of long-term discrimination is internalizing the violence we have experienced. After centuries of being a second-class citizen, it’s easy to identify with our aggressor, believing that we are indeed shameful, deserving of cruelty. We see this with children who are abused, prisoners of war, and women who believe that their bodies belong to men. It’s a kind of survival instinct, to align with the ones in power. But it means that the trauma of discrimination has seeped deep under our skin and into our psyches.
As restrictions on our reproductive freedom intensify, we can remember that the fight for control of our bodies is the fight of our lives. As Gloria Steinem says, “Democracy begins with each person’s control of his or her own body. Without reproductive freedom, there is no democracy for America(n) women.”
Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
Boulder
Phil Huff: Kennedy episode a microcosm of behavior in Congress
The last time I looked, there was one and only one party authorized to select University of Colorado presidents: the Board of Regents, not the faculty, not administrators, not the student body.
The acrimonious reaction to the appointment of President Mark Kennedy is a microcosm of the ill-mannered, threatening behavior exhibited in the halls of Congress these days. Those calling for the public announcement of a slate of finalists don’t understand that not clothing them in anonymity is neither compassionate or wise. Anonymity is necessary in order to avoid the folly of yesteryear, when all five finalists’ names were leaked to the press, causing all five to withdraw from consideration. Without anonymity, what qualified, non-radical candidate would ever consider a CU presidency bid?
When President Bruce Benson’s candidacy was announced, the CU Boulder Faculty Assembly voted 40-4 against him. Yet, his experience outside academia, like Kennedy has, made Benson one of the best ever. The CU faculty opposing Kennedy does not represent the whole faculty, nor does the small percentage of complaining students represent the entire student body.
Tragically, it has become standard these days for places of higher learning to be run by its “inmates” rather than presidents with a functioning backbone. Once-great schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and many others are now presided over by feckless presidents who succumb to the radical views of professors and students alike. As Winston Churchill sagely warned, “Don’t confuse leadership with popularity.” Putting a gun to Kennedy’s head from the start is not the hallmark of a great university, its faculty, staff or students.
Phil Huff
Boulder
Charlie Hoffman: What is city spending taxpayer money on?
According to a front page article in the Daily Camera on May 16, the city is taking tax money away from Open Space and Mountain Parks to use for the general fund and transportation, and now wants to ask for a new tax to fund OSMP.
This prompts a question that needs answering: Is the city using tax money for any purposes other than what was specified on a ballot initiative and agreed to by the voters?
Charlie Hoffman
Boulder