HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Anyone hoping that results of an independent review of Hope College’s music department would be made public apparently will be disappointed.
The Holland Sentinel reported in yesterday’s editions that the Holland school will not disclose what the retained Kansas City-based firm Husch Blackwell found in probing a series of January 2018 departures and dismissals in the department. The moves came after what Hope officials say was a “wide-sweeping, nine-month investigation,” but the private institution, despite calls for “transparency” by students, continues to maintain institutional silence on the matter, despite a highly-visible student protest on campus last November.
According to the Sentinel, “Administrators who served during the time of the investigation, or who were directly involved, have declined requests for comment on this story … (school) spokesperson Jennifer Fellinger … said the college considers the external review to be private, but it was helpful to the college in offering ‘specific recommendations for possible next steps,’ including possible updates to the faculty handbook and ‘addressing trust and communications going forward.’”
One of the affected instructors, former Professor Brad Richmond, told the Sentinel that, by not releasing the results of the review, “the college is failing miserably at honest self-inspection. My guess is that (new Hope President) Matt Scogin … is going to have to courageously reach out to the Hope diaspora with honest conversation if he expects to win back trust.”
Classes for the new Academic Year at Hope College begin on Aug. 27th.
