President James F. Jones, Jr. Reports and Memoranda
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Reports and memoranda issues by President James F. Jones, Jr.
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Item Letter to Campus Community, September 28, 1998(Kalamazoo College, 1998-09-28) Jones, James F., Jr. (James Fleming), 1947-In this letter to the campus community, President James F. Jones, Jr. gives details of a racist note left on a student’s dorm room door on Sunday, September 27, 1998 and a fire in the same room the following day. The letter includes the text of the note which began “We have a no nigger policy at K-College. It is designed to insure the failure of all non white people here…” The note was left on the door of a first-year Black student who had read aloud a poem at a campus event that weekend. The poem was about not being judged by the color of his skin. President Jones condemned the note and appealed to the campus “…to create and maintain an environment that validates the educational benefits of a diverse community in a safe learning environment.”Item Letter to Parents, September 29, 1998(Kalamazoo College, 1998-09-29) Jones, James F., Jr. (James Fleming), 1947-In a letter dated September 29, 1998, college president James F. Jones, Jr. wrote to parents of students to address a racist note and dorm room fire that shocked the college campus. After giving details of the two events in the letter, he detailed the actions the college was taking to deal with the situation. Initially the president comforted the dorm fire victims. Then, he and other senior administrative officials met with students of color to listen to their concerns. That evening the president gave a speech to the entire college community to condemn the incidents. After his speech, faculty and staff led small discussion sessions with students to talk about their feelings and to come up with suggestions for creating a safer environment.Item Letter to the Editor - Hate Letter and Fire Update(Kalamazoo College Index, 1999-02-17) Jones, James F., Jr. (James Fleming), 1947-In this letter to the editor, college president James F. Jones, Jr. informs the campus that the Investigation Division of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety closed the case into the dorm fire and racist letter of September 1998. The Department stated, “Detectives have been unable to develop any suspects possibly involved in the distribution of the ‘hate letter’ that had been received by the Kalamazoo College Student.” The case was never solved.Item Diversity Report(2004-01-09) Jones, James F., Jr. (James Fleming), 1947-Report to the Kalamazoo College community about diversity initiatives during the winter and spring quarters of 2004.Item Campus Letter Concerning the Upjohn Library(2003-11-06) Jones, James F., Jr. (James Fleming), 1947-A letter from James F. Jones Jr. (Kalamazoo College president, 1996-2004) concerning the renovation and expansion of the library and the moving process, in addition to the interim plans to house the library books in the Hicks Center during the construction period.