Pensacola State College’s downfall is such a loss. Ignoring residents at fault | OPINION
By Julian MacQueen | Guest Columnist – PNJ.Com
I resigned from the Pensacola State College (PSC) Board of Trustees before Governor DeSantis brought in his enforcers and fired four women and replaced them with four men, altering the successful trajectory of this 77-year-old institution that has developed community leaders and outstanding community members in Pensacola for generations.
I have lived in several communities, and I have never seen a college garner such tremendous local support. I expect that MJ Menge is rolling over in his grave to see this deeply committed institution, separating itself from 35% of our population and 39.1% of the student body of minority members, and 63% of the female population at PSC, and interrupting the last 13 years of progress ushered in by President Meadows.
When I started getting calls that President Ed Meadows was being criticized for breaking state laws prohibiting DEI initiatives, the reason for the calls seemed very simple – the Governor and legislature want to eliminate Affirmative Action and unwind programs that give minorities and women preferential treatment. (Oddly, while the focus is on people of color, white women have benefited most from DEI initiatives.)
I founded EPA (The Equity Project Alliance) in 2020 to address Systemic Racism in Pensacola by bringing together local business owners. Our methods for understanding the disparities between the African American and Caucasian communities are through the process of hosting conversations between the Black and White communities. That’s what we do. We have conversations.
This is not trivial. It is profound and influences changes in attitude and long-held opinions about race. We are having conversations about long-held beliefs about White people and about Black people. What makes my head spin is that both PSC and EPA (Equity Project Alliance) are on the same page.
PSC’s mission statement says they want to ‘promote quality, affordable, and accessible educational opportunities’ (see the PSC webpage). That’s what the EPA wants, and we use statistics in the Pensacola MSA to underline the disparities between the African American and White populations to identify areas of focus. Why does this vast disparity between the Black and White communities exist?
PSC’s key values, stated in its strategic plan developed in 2015, are ‘concern, respect, integrity, and responsibility.’ We are on the same page where EPA seeks to look at ways we can understand the underlying causes behind the disparate metrics of Pensacola’s Black communities.
No. 6 in the PSC’s Institutional Priorities set out in 2023 is to ‘seek increased diversity that promotes a climate where affirmative action and equal opportunity are valued.’ (definition: Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to address systemic discrimination).
Again, The Equity Project Alliance’s core premise is to highlight this discovery process through interactive community gatherings while curating conversations to help us all understand the symbiotic relationship the black and white communities have and to foster a better understanding.
Under PSC’s Institutional Goals and Objectives for 2023-2028, guiding the Board of Trustees and the President, Goal No. 1 is addressing the institutional culture of this prestigious institution:
- • Build a unified college identify across locations
- • Maintain/enhance a pleasant, caring, support work environment, professional growth
- • Promote diversity, recognition, customer service, continuous improvement
We at the EPA are fully behind these aspirational declarations, and this is the work that The Equity Project Alliance is striving toward.
Recently, Zack Smith accused WSRE of promoting DEI programming. As a former Board of Trustees member at PSC and the seventh largest employer in the Pensacola MSA, I reject that characterization. Diversity and inclusion are the bedrock of innovation and creativity. If we don’t have organizations like the Equity Project Alliance promoting understanding between the races, then how are we going to engage our youth in the world? Every citizen in Pensacola should be aware that the DNA of Pensacola State College is being attacked.
I believe that PSC should rewrite their Institutional Priorities, their Key Values, and their Institutional Goals and Priorities, and clearly state that they no longer embrace these high ideals that made the school what it is today. They cannot have it both ways.
What a loss that would be.
Philanthropist Julian MacQueen is chairman and founder of Innisfree Hotels and is a past board member of Pensacola State College Board of Trustees.
PSC remains committed to providing exceptional opportunities for all students | OPINION
Zack Smith | Article Response – PNJ.Com
Treating people differently based on race is inherently wrong. There’s no such thing as good discrimination.
While many who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion — the dreaded DEI — might argue that such “good” discrimination is necessary, they would be wise to heed the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, who himself experienced deep poverty while growing up as a young Black man in the segregated South.
Thomas has made clear that the “Constitution abhors classifications based on race . . . because every time the government places citizens on racial registers and makes race relevant to the provision of burdens or benefits, it demeans us all,” regardless of our race.
That’s why the recent opinion piece by former Pensacola State College trustee, Julian MacQueen, is so unfortunate. No doubt Mr. MacQueen cares deeply for students and our community.
But his proposed policies of essentially placing Pensacola State College faculty, staff, and students on racial registers, categorizing them and treating them differently based on race (as one must with affirmative action policies, even if not explicitly stated) is deeply misguided — and it’s illegal.
Mr. MacQueen laments that Pensacola State College is moving away from its prior institutional pledge to “promote a climate where affirmative action and equal opportunity are valued.”
But let’s be clear: Pensacola State College is not moving away from its commitment to equal opportunity. It’s reaffirming it. Students of all races from all walks of life are welcomed and encouraged to pursue their full educational and occupational potential.
Pensacola State College is, however, moving away from treating people differently based on race.
After all, the same year that PSC adopted its commitment to affirmative action, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down, as violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, similar programs in the Students for Fair Admissions cases.
There, the Court made clear that a “student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.” It said that schools with affirmative action policies had “concluded wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin.” As the Court said then, “[o]ur constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
That’s why Pensacola State College and other institutions must commit to providing opportunities for low-income students, veterans, and other traditional and non-traditional students without taking race into account.
A commitment to a colorblind constitutional system isn’t an attack on “the DNA of Pensacola State College,” it’s a promise to fulfill the highest of
ideals of our society where educational opportunities can equip anyone—from any background — with the skills needed to pursue their dreams and to become contributing members of our community.
Mr. MacQueen implicitly rejects the idea that treating people differently based on their race is inherently wrong. And he notes that as “a former Board of Trustees member at PSC and the seventh largest employer in the Pensacola MSA,” he explicitly rejects the characterization that DEI is bad.
As an individual and a business owner, he’s free to hold those views. But if he or his businesses implement policies treating people differently based on race, they could — and should — be subject to legal liability (under the relevant statutory frameworks prohibiting racial discrimination) just as Pensacola State would — and should — be held accountable if it were to continue discriminating too.
Far from the doom and gloom Mr. MacQueen predicts, Pensacola State College will be better situated to serve our community by re-affirming its commitment to treating everyone equally.
But Mr. MacQueen’s advice is well-taken that if Pensacola State College hasn’t made that commitment sufficiently clear to date, it should. And I’m happy to make that motion at a future Board of Trustees meeting.
Zack Smith is a lifelong resident of Pensacola, Florida. He currently serves as a member of the Pensacola State College Board of Trustees. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the views of any other institution or individual.
