Why the Interregnum Opening Lecture Made Me Embarrassed To Be A King’s Student
| Photo courtesy of the Interregnum Committee
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.
After last year’s Interregnum theme of Reconciliation, I felt encouraged — ready to embark on this year’s theme of Readiness in the Interregnum Opening Lecture on Wednesday, March 30. To my disappointment, I was mandated by the college to listen to American conservative art critic, Roger Kimball, talk about the dangers of multiculturalism and the superiority of Western culture.
Not only were his arguments deeply racist, but they were completely antithetical to what I believe is the purpose of American liberal arts education — to allow students to explore the freedoms of the world we live in.
Kimball described multiculturalism as a “sect” or a “cult” — corrupting higher education into a hyper-woke liberal mess. He proposed a situation in which a student walks into a college campus and sees a plaque honoring multicultural diversity, which he described as “a strict intellectual and moral conformity on any said topic [social issue].”
Emma Powell, the Chair of the Interregnum Committee, said, “The Interregnum Lecture is a tradition meant to spark conversation and deeper thought surrounding the theme. In the best years, the speaker and theme tie perfectly together, building on each other. In other years, they may not work as well.”
The King’s College prides itself on its growing diversity, drawing a number of different cultural and religious backgrounds.
Myrian Garcia, a second-year JCS major, asked, “Is he implying that the liberal arts education should have a preference towards a particular group of people?”
An anonymous petition was created calling for a formal apology from The King’s College for the offenses of the Interregnum Opening Lecture. It said in the description on the petition, “The Interregnum speech for Spring 2022 by Roger Kimball was extremely offensive and deeply offended many of the King’s students… Claims in the speech were made on behalf of the college itself so a statement to clear up where the college truly stands only seems necessary.”
Emily Smyth, a senior English major, said, “It was disappointing, to say the least, as the President of the House of Sojourner Truth to sit in a room with my fellow women and hear from a man who claimed to be inclusive and ‘liberal’ while he unabashedly claimed the BLM movement is ‘not productive’ for our ‘self-critical Western thought.’ How does that connect in any way to the theme of Interregnum? I don’t think I want to be Roger’s definition of ‘ready.’”
Along with his critiques of the Black Lives Matter movement, Kimball targeted the open borders movement — not to my surprise after his blatant rejection of multiculturalism. Kimball claimed that multiculturalism was inherently “Marxist,” and that “it was written in the law to prefer immigrants from different parts of the world to other parts of the world.”
Kimball argued, “We should look to the past, and not to the streets” in regards to higher education, denouncing critiques of humanistic liberal education like queer theory or feminist theory.
Emily Henry, a senior PPE major, said, “It’s always discouraging to hear more people at King’s actively advocate against queer students.”
On his Twitter, Kimball has made publicly disrespectful and transphobic comments toward United States Assistant Secretary for Health, Rachel Levine. He said, on Twitter on March 21, “It’s Monday and @SecretaryLevine is still a man pretending to be a woman.”
The focus of his lecture, though, was on the essence of the humanities as a deeply Western ideal. Not only does this harbor racist undertones, but it also invalidates many professionals choosing to study the works of other cultural masters.
Kimball said, “You want to bury yourself in the past instead of the ephemeral works of the present.” It was clear that his bias was toward the West, considering he held an apparent nationalist point of view on immigration and the spread of international ideas.
“I have no issues with the idea of patriotism and celebrating what makes America great, but Dr. Kimball’s language came across as elitist and outdated in a world that has and is changing every day,” Alex Kemsley, a third-year Humanities major, said. “If we want to celebrate America and American ideals, that has to include all American people.”
Kimball said, “Of course, there are values in any culture but we should put America at the center because we’re Americans.”
Abby Roth, a member of the King’s Cabinet serving in the role of Director of Student Organizations, said, “This event has left me questioning not only our institution but also my place in it. I am discouraged as a student leader. I do not want to pour into an institution that listens and supports gross men like Roger Kimball.”
“The Interregnum Opening Lecture should be a positive force of conversation between the student body, much like Dr. Miroslav Volf’s lecture on Reconciliation was last year. But, like all things in this fallen world, this lecture is not always perfect. Personally, I strongly disagree with most of Mr. Kimball’s opinions,” said Powell. “And I am personally sorry to those whom the comments hurt. I hope and pray that the rest of this Interregnum and the Opening Lectures of following years will be able to be a helpful light for the student body.”
Why does King’s continually neglect the needs of their students to grow and flourish, and more importantly, be “Good, Brave and Ready” in a world that demands a robust understanding of contemporary diverse and multicultural ideals?
Mattie Townson is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Empire State Tribune. She is a third-year student majoring in Journalism, Culture and Society. She specializes in mental health awareness alongside mental health professional, Alegra Kastens.
Correction: Kayleigh Burrell did not create the petition. It was created anonymously.