The Land Before The Times: The Story That The New York Times Forgot
Photo Courtesy of The King’s College
The opinions reflected in this OpEd are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, faculty and students of The King's College.
(OPINION) A recent New York Times article depicted The King’s College as a conservative, predominately white and Protestant institution. In doing so, they directly ignored the minority voices that are poignantly shaping King’s.
The Times said that “roughly half [the students] were homeschooled,” but the 28% homeschooled population at the college is much lower than the article suggests. Comparatively, nearly 20% of Fordham students, 10% of St. John’s students and 14% of Cairn University students were homeschooled. King’s homeschooled demographic is only slightly higher than the schools it has transfer agreements with.
The American homeschooled demographic is also more diverse than stereotypes imply. The national percentage of homeschooled students has increased dramatically since 2020 due to the pandemic. According to Forbes the percentage of Black students represented in that group has increased the most, and according to The Atlantic it has been increasing since even before the pandemic. In general, homeschooled students aggregate successfully into universities both socially and academically.
The Times said that “most of [King’s] students are white, and many come from conservative households far from New York City.” Higher education across New York City is predominantly white – not just at King’s. Fordham is roughly 54% white, St. Joseph’s is 76% white, Columbia undergraduate schools are 42% white and Brooklyn College – a City University of New York school – is 34% white. Comparatively, King’s is 65% white according to US News. The United States in general is 59% white – not including Hispanic or Latino – according to the most recent census.
The New York Times emphasized the white presence at King’s by quoting only white students; only one out of the four was a woman. At least three students of color were interviewed, including Myrian Garcia, a senior in the House of Margaret Thatcher, but the Times didn’t include their side of the story.
“I came into the interview half expecting not to be quoted… The Times reporter had his angle and story and so it was up to him to choose what to use or not,” Garcia said. “I do feel like King’s is predominantly white… When I first came to King’s in Fall 2020, I saw very few Hispanic or Black students. Now, I see a more diverse student body. I regularly hear students speaking my native language, Spanish, in the lobby. King’s is much more diverse ethnically, religiously and politically.”
No institution is perfect. Fordham and St. John’s have dealt with issues of discrimination as well. King’s – and all higher education institutions working toward a more equitable future – deserve credit for the actions they take to include and protect students of color in a society that represses marginalized voices.
While the King’s administration previously failed to address issues of race, students hold the institution responsible while individual faculty and staff members repeatedly push for reform and progress. Dr. Dru Johnson, a Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies and the founder of the Center for Hebraic Thought, and other faculty and staff members designed King’s Statement of Unity in Diversity. The statement is discussed and readily available during new student orientations and admissions events, and many students believe that the statement is lived out in the college’s culture.
Of course, King’s is a “Christian” institution by nature and self-definition. But “private Christian college” is not synonymous with closed-minded, homogeneous, simple thinking. King’s is a liberal arts college with flourishing business, finance, journalism and media programs which, though paired with a Politics, Philosophy and Economics core, are largely nonpartisan and areligious.
Paige Hagy, a Journalism, Culture and Society alum (‘22) notes in an Op-Ed for Insider that “the school draws a mixed crowd — those who come to King's for the city and those who come to King's for King's.” Though some students are seeking a rigorously Protestant safety net in the city, the curriculum is not pervasively religious.
I know what readers of the Times, with all their vicious comments, are expecting King’s to be and why they won’t blink twice when the college closes. I grew up in a staunchly Independent-Fundamental Baptist family where everyone on my mother’s side was involved in ministry in some form, ranging from musical theater to church planting. In church, we used the King James translation of the Bible exclusively and I wore knee-length dresses. The pastors endorsed Republican presidential candidates and disparaged gay marriage from the pulpit.
At the same time, my white family members lived in Southeast Asia for the last thirty years. My white mother speaks Mandarin conversationally and cooks more Chinese cuisine than American. If someone mocked my Vietnamese last name, questioned the “Christianness” of my parents’ interracial marriage or told me I couldn’t serve in the church because I identify as a woman, my family would instantly defend me. Their political and religious identity, even considering the many aspects that I disagree with, is nuanced. People – and their beliefs – are complicated.
The mutual respect and understanding I have with my family perfectly reflect the understanding and respect King’s demands from its students. King’s fosters an amalgamation of opinions and beliefs, many of which are argued for with the same source material – Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, etc. In the midst of such drastic differences in belief, intellectual respect is necessary for academic freedom. Students, faculty and administration at King’s know and practice this daily.
“As a Jew, there will be some events and activities like prayer ceremonies which I simply cannot go to as they do not fit the values of my religion, but other events like Interregnum are super fun and accommodate my religious needs,” Steven Nasar, a freshman in the House of Winston Churchill, said. “I think King’s is a great place for people from Christian backgrounds as well as any other background. You can either learn and apply to your own life as a Christian or learn and grow as a person– learning about a different culture can teach you new things as you are outside your comfort zone.”
White students attend events hosted by student organizations The Table or The Bridge, which aim to encourage conversations and visibility among students of color. Atheist, Jewish, Orthodox and Muslim students attend King’s and contribute in the same capacities as the Evangelical-Christian students. The student body is majority female – 64% women to 36% men, according to US News. These aspects of diversity were unfortunately overlooked by the Times. On the bright side, the piece mentioned King’s refusal to endorse Donald J. Trump in the presidential race – further evidence of the nonpartisan nature of King’s educational environment.
“If there is an emphasis on the fact that [King’s is] a Christian college, that can probably be attributed to the fact that it is one, especially one that has made Christianity such a central part of its identity,” said Natalia Gaytan, a sophomore in the House of Clara Barton.
But “Conservatism” and “Christianity” are not code words for hatefulness, closed-mindedness and ignorance. King’s at its worst is perhaps easier for me to forgive since I was raised in an environment that the Times and its readers dread, but I think my tolerance for the conservative narrative is actually because they can make solid, well-informed points sometimes.
I don’t attend Students For Life events, but I edit stories about them. I actively participate in conversations about marriage and gender in Associate Professor of Philosophy Dr. David Talcott’s Ethics course. He has never made me feel like my opinion is unwelcome even when we clearly disagree with each other. Our Assistant Professor of History and Humanities, Dr. Joshua Kinlaw, talks frequently about the value of the non-Protestant church despite King’s Protestant affiliation. I voiced my hatred for Socrates during Associate Professor of Philosophy Dr. Joshua Blander’s office hours, to which he shrugged, accepting that not all students share his Socratic sentiments.
“I’ve been very lucky to find faculty, staff and students that have genuinely cared for my experiences both before and at King’s, but I’ve actively had to work for that,” said Gaytan.
While not everyone’s experience is perfect, the Times missed some of the layers of this tiny Christian liberal arts college in lower Manhattan. The discussions at King’s broaden my worldview more than ostracize me from a hard-and-fast religious, conservative system. Ideological diversity is just as integral to flourishing as physical diversity, and King’s offers both.
Mandie-Beth Chau is the Campus Editor at the Empire State Tribune. She is a freshman studying Journalism, Culture and Society.