Greetings to Friends, everywhere:
From June 12th through 15th, 2023, Friends Association for Higher Education held its annual conference at Haverford College, which is located on the traditional lands of the Lenni-Lenape people. The theme of the conference was “Quakers, Colonization, and Decolonization.” It was FAHE’s first in-person conference since 2019, and its very first hybrid conference, offering sessions on Zoom as well. Friends rejoiced in their time together while also being gratified by all of the benefits of the Zoom option.
During the conference’s opening evening, Friends were welcomed by Nikki Young, Haverford’s inaugural Vice President for Institutional Equity and Access. James Fenelon who is of both Lakota/Dakota and European heritage then provided a brief overview of the traditions of land acknowledgements as part of the introduction to our keynote speaker, Dennis Coker, Principal Chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. Chief Coker focused on the traumatic colonization experience of his people, which eliminated 90% of the population due to smallpox outbreaks as well as physical violence, forcing many tribe members to migrate westward or northward to escape extermination. Nevertheless, a vital community of approximately 1000 Lenape still exists in Kent County Delaware. After describing the challenging process of obtaining federal recognition for Delaware Lenape, Chief Coker emphasized what the modern United States might learn from indigenous peoples. Regarding reverence for the environment, he reminded us that nature doesn’t need human beings, but humans do need nature.
On the first full day of our gathering, following a communal gathering at dawn and a period of silent worship, morning and evening plenary sessions asked us to consider issues and possibilities for decolonizing both Quakerism and the larger society. The first plenary addressed decolonizing Quakerism around the world. Panelists from the Philippines (Cristina Montiel), Bolivia (Emma Condori Mamani), Kenya (Oscar Lugusa Malande) and India (P. Govi) shared their perspectives with us and responded to questions from moderator Emma Lapsansky such as, “What would a decolonized peace testimony in the Global South look like?” and, “Can an unprogrammed meeting go South without colonizing?” It was painfully clear that colonization has been a world-wide phenomenon affecting people of color throughout the globe.
In the second plenary, tom kunesh and James Fenelon addressed the thorny issues confronting decolonizing in the United States: landback, cultureback, and indigenizing. The vital importance of cultural indigenizing through attention to language and religion were emphasized, and we were called to carefully examine what Quakers can do to rectify the crime of earlier Quakers obtaining and settling land unjustly taken from indigenous peoples.
Earlier in the day, Haverford president Wendy Raymond moderated the annual President’s Panel, bringing together President Gregory Miller from Malone University, President Corey Cockerill from Wilmington College, Provost Sarah Willie-LeBreton of Swarthmore College (soon to be president at Smith College), and Executive Director Francisco Burgos of Pendle Hill. The panel responded to questions such as, “How is your campus working to create a more just world?” “What have you learned from addressing the colonial past?” and, “How might you model a new social order?” It was acknowledged that corporate sins often require structural responses, and that the colleges are not standing close enough to the danger zones on controversial issues. All acknowledged that their schools are only in the beginning stages of this important work.
Various concurrent sessions also highlighted the day. The collaborative effort creating the graphic novel Ghost River illustrated a remarkable achievement by individuals passionately dedicated to providing the indigenous voice to the description of the tragic massacre of the Conestoga people by the Paxton Boys in mid-18th century Pennsylvania. Themes emerging from other concurrent sessions included facing up to ways white Quakers historically have participated in colonization, even when they may have regarded themselves as acting in good faith; learning about the complexities of hybrid ethnicities and multiracial communities; and observing that elite higher education institutions, which carry at least two legacies of colonialism – exclusivity and accumulated wealth – have a special burden to expose students to indigenous ways of knowing the world. We also pondered whether new trends in our world, such as AI, present new forms of colonialism by appropriating people’s creativity and cultural productions without their permission, and codifying a particular writing voice that sounds authoritative but replaces truth and genuine human expression with a dangerously deceptive semblance of truth.
The conference’s second full day, Wednesday June 14th, again began with a communal gathering at dawn followed by breakfast and a semi-programmed meeting for worship guided by Jacci Stuckey, who read passages of the writings of FAHE member and George Fox University professor Paul Anderson. Messages offered by friends were deep and moving, and included wonderful songs.
In the third plenary session Paula Palmer, Gail Melix, and Andrew Grant addressed Quakers’ roles in the creation and maintenance of indigenous boarding schools, which are now acknowledged to be “forced assimilation camps.” Quakers’ deep involvement can be too easily dismissed as misguided efforts at important reforms. We must acknowledge our complicity in the terrible tragedy, and strive to contribute to reparation efforts. Fortunately, in spite of efforts to erase indigenous culture from the United States, approximately 600 unique native tribes, and 150 languages remain alive. There are abundant opportunities, but we must actively seek them out. The session closed with five queries for higher education offered as guiding questions for Friends’ future decolonizing work. They are:
- 1) How should we acknowledge the harm that was done to Indigenous peoples – and can still be done – in the name of “education”?
- 2) What is it like for young people from Native communities to attend our schools today?
- 3) In our admissions policies, curricula, and standards, are we rooting out unconscious white supremacist biases?
- 4) Have our institutions benefited from the theft of Native land?
- 5) How can our institutions contribute to research, accountability, and healing in Native communities?
Friends conducted the annual Meeting for Business: adopting a proposed budget, approving nominations, including Laura Rediehs as clerk and Walter Sullivan as assistant clerk, and accepting minutes of appreciation to Haverford College for hosting the conference, the Program Committee for organizing the conference, Tom Head for his service on Executive Committee which is now concluding, Co-Clerk Donn Weinholtz whose term as clerk is now concluding, and special thanks to Walter Sullivan for his heroic work leading the organizing and daily operations of this first in-person and hybrid conference we have held without the assistance of a staff coordinator employed for this purpose. We also heard reports on the ongoing status of our Quaker Leadings in Higher Education video seminars and our Quakers in the Disciplines book series. The invitation from President Gregory Miller for next year’s conference at Malone University was read and accepted. Finally, time was reserved open-ended discussion of future FAHE initiatives.
New themes emerged from the final set of concurrent sessions. For example, one session involved a discussion on how Quakers have allowed an emphasis on averting killing or physical violence to cloud their eyes to the pitfalls of the alternatives policies for which they did advocate. In another session we examined famous historical Quaker stories and works of art that, in the context of their time, challenged people to question their fear of indigenous people, but these stories and works of art nevertheless contain problematic depictions and center the white Quaker perspective – our standards now are changing. Other sessions explored the relationship between colonization and the golden rule, and personal stories of decolonizing one’s own mind and consciousness.
In the final plenary, we were treated to a summary of learnings, insights, and queries from the entire conference, gathered and synthesized by Zolani Ngwame, a Haverford anthropologist who works on the politics of Higher Education in South Africa, his homeland. His presentation was followed by a rich discussion and sharing from those who were present.
Friends were filled with joy at spending time together and engaging in rich sharing. Inspired and energized by the important, collaborative work that lies ahead of them, Friends were also sobered by the work’s inherent challenges, as they bid each other farewell departing for home on Thursday, June 15th.
Friends Association for Higher Education 