At Bethel College this year, the administration allowed for the first time in its history, regular and random police patrols on the college campus (before they would patrol in vehicles on the roads surrounding the campus, but never on foot on the campus or in buildings). Many of us, a lot of Mennonites, opposed this unnecessary change. And one thing Pres. Jon Gering did to combat the many Mennonite voices against police patrols was to decry them as idealistic, misunderstanding Mennonite theology, and he pointed to the MCUSA abolition curriculum as a reason many progressive Mennonites are against policing in its current form as a way to delegitimize our voices.
Lots of conversations and direct action were taken to protest this and offer solutions, but none seem to have been taken seriously. And now the role of policing has been legitimized on our campus and will likely remain. The police were introduced as an easy way for Admin to say that they care about safety while doing nothing tangible about campus safety. And they did this without seriously interrogating the history of policing and the role they play in society, much less from an Anabaptist lens.
I appreciate your lens that seeks to clarify amongst ourselves the purpose and definition of policing. As well as interrogating how, as Anabaptist-Mennonites, we interact with and can transform the systems of violence in our country.
I am quite touched that a Mennonite administrator believed the curriculum was responsible for decolonizing the Mennonite imagination of policing! What a compliment! But I am sorry for this development at Bethel. Disappointing decisions by the admin
At Bethel College this year, the administration allowed for the first time in its history, regular and random police patrols on the college campus (before they would patrol in vehicles on the roads surrounding the campus, but never on foot on the campus or in buildings). Many of us, a lot of Mennonites, opposed this unnecessary change. And one thing Pres. Jon Gering did to combat the many Mennonite voices against police patrols was to decry them as idealistic, misunderstanding Mennonite theology, and he pointed to the MCUSA abolition curriculum as a reason many progressive Mennonites are against policing in its current form as a way to delegitimize our voices.
Lots of conversations and direct action were taken to protest this and offer solutions, but none seem to have been taken seriously. And now the role of policing has been legitimized on our campus and will likely remain. The police were introduced as an easy way for Admin to say that they care about safety while doing nothing tangible about campus safety. And they did this without seriously interrogating the history of policing and the role they play in society, much less from an Anabaptist lens.
I appreciate your lens that seeks to clarify amongst ourselves the purpose and definition of policing. As well as interrogating how, as Anabaptist-Mennonites, we interact with and can transform the systems of violence in our country.
I am quite touched that a Mennonite administrator believed the curriculum was responsible for decolonizing the Mennonite imagination of policing! What a compliment! But I am sorry for this development at Bethel. Disappointing decisions by the admin