Dear Witmarsum,
It was brought to my attention by students that I was being named as the staff member who was quoted by a friend of the author of the piece “Conservative perspectives undervalued at Bluffton” to have stated “we don’t talk about him here” in reference to President Donald Trump. I do not want this comment to reflect badly on the staff of the college as a whole so I wanted to accept responsibility publicly.
I had no memory of making such a comment, so I met with the student who stated that I made this comment to try to gain clarity. He stated that I said it while seated behind he and a friend at a football game last fall. I still do not have any memory of the conversation but am convinced after speaking to the student that I must have made this comment.
I apologized to the student and am apologizing here to the larger campus community. All are entitled to respectfully state our personal opinions on our campus, and I should not have made comments that infer otherwise. I will point out that a conversation had in a public event such as a football game is not entirely a “private conversation” as stated in the article, but I apologize for making any type of comment that would insinuate that students are not allowed free speech on our campus. Please accept this comment as entirely my responsibility and not reflective of the Bluffton University staff as a whole.
Sincerely,
Julie DeGraw
Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
