The Mott Community College Board of Trustees held a special meeting on February 18 to discuss accusations made against the college’s president, Shaunda Richardson-Snell, that she was inappropriately engaging in conversations about her religion.
The particular accusation in question resulted from an interaction Richardson-Snell allegedly had with Wayne Wilson, a member of the Navajo Nation (Diné) in Arizona, during an annual Peace and Dignity ceremony on campus during Indigenous Peoples Day October 13 of last year. According to Kim Kozlowski of Bridge Michigan, Richardson-Snell allegedly asked Wilson if he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Trustee Art Reyes also stated at an October board meeting that a student had approached him after Richardson-Snell allegedly brought up religion during a discussion with the student about artificial intelligence. The board also received a complaint in December from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, but board attorney Carey DeWitt said that complaint referred to the same incident with Wilson and was not a different accusation.
Richardson-Snell did not attend Wednesday’s meeting. The board also took no action after going into closed session for approximately 40 minutes at the request of DeWitt. DeWitt requested a closed session because the accusations and any investigation into them is a personnel matter, which employees have a right to keep private.
After emerging from closed session, the board discussed a prepared statement drafted by Trustee Santino Guerra upholding the college’s commitment to supporting people from all backgrounds on campus but ultimately postponed voting on it until their next meeting, which is Monday, February 23. Some trustees expressed a desire to review it longer or perhaps add additional language to it.
Many in attendance were hoping the board would announce an investigation into Richardson-Snell’s actions, or any corrective action it had already taken since the accusations were made, but those were not addressed in the public portion of the meeting.
Honestly, the meeting was disorienting. Here’s the link to the full video if you’d like to watch. The part that I highly recommend watching is from retired Mott faculty member Celia Perez Booth. Perez Booth, who said she’s Wilson’s adopted mother, specifically addressed the trauma that many Native Americans experienced at the hands of Christians in boarding schools. Wilson has also spoken about this. For those who need some background and context – and MANY public commenters at the meeting definitely need it – here’s a PBS story that dives into some of the violent history. Perez Booth pointed out the inappropriateness of the alleged remarks Richardson-Snell made, reiterated (as Wilson did in the Bridge article) that they were not welcome, and also asked that Richardson-Snell and her attorney stop contacting Wilson — she said they were asking Wilson to sign a document saying Richardson-Snell “did nothing wrong.” Trustees John Daly III, PhD, and Reyes both expressed a desire for the board to have more information on the nature of those interactions and how often Wilson was contacted.
The other comments … I don’t really know how to categorize. Many were heartfelt testimonies from Christians of their faith and ways it has guided them through difficulties in their lives. Many were moving. I was raised by a Christian mother, whose faith was foundational for her through many tragedies in her own life. Even though my beliefs now differ from those I was raised with, they undeniably impacted the way I try to move through life focused on love and community.
But I do think there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue, even from the well-intentioned people who shared their stories. The issue isn’t Richardson-Snell’s religious beliefs, or even her right to express them. The issue is a power imbalance in a workplace. If an employee of the college, or a student of the college, holds a different faith or even no religious beliefs, would they be equally comfortable expressing those in her presence? Would they be welcome to? If Richardson-Snell was sharing her beliefs in a way that wasn’t welcome – and the characterization of her interaction with Wilson and the one that Reyes shared that he’d heard from a student don’t feel like those overtures were welcome – would they feel comfortable telling a person in a position of authority they’d rather not have that conversation? Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn’t.
I actually think Trustee Kenyetta Dotson, PhD, summed it up best in her remarks at the end of the meeting, sharing her perspective as a person of faith.
“I’ve been in church all my life,” Dotson said. “I’m a minister, a pastor at my church and I love the Lord. I allow people to see God in me. But if I’m not evangelizing, or I’m not doing an outreach, or I’m not on my own time, I have never just offered Christ to anyone in a work-related setting or anything like that. I believe that you let your light shine, God shines through you, and there’s a place and a time for everything.”
However, not every commenter was well-intentioned. There were other comments made that can only be categorized as done in bad faith. Tiffany Morris, a Flint resident who said she’s a minister at a church, had a particularly unhinged comment that I won’t even try to summarize other than to say it added nothing of value to the discussion, it was derisive toward several groups of people who are a part of our community, and it also said things that are just factually so untrue … good luck trying to figure out whatever the “dog and cat” portion was about.
Another commenter, James Bailey of Davison, owns a company named after an Atlas Shrugged character. Which makes it a little odd that he was defending a public expression of Christian beliefs considering Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand was very openly hostile toward religion. Anyway, he somehow veered his comments from the issue at the meeting to a rant about masks and vaccines.
There was also a commenter who didn’t disclose her organization’s connection to Mott. Katherine Bussard of Potterville, which is not in Mott’s district, is the executive director and COO of Salt & Light Global, a conservative Christian nonprofit organization. Richardson-Snell recently announced that Mott had hired Jack Jordan as legal counsel for the college. Jordan is affiliated with the Great Lakes Justice Center, which is Salt & Light’s legal division.
Probably the most problematic remark from my perspective came from a trustee. Candice Miller spoke near the end of the meeting and said that she sees Richardson-Snell’s role, in part, as ministering the spirit of students.
I want to reiterate that there were many people whose personal stories and testaments they shared were moving. The issue at hand, though, is not whether or not people are allowed to express their religious beliefs. It is whether or not a boss in a public organization, on a campus that includes students, employees, and community members of multiple faiths, is creating an environment where people who don’t adhere to her faith would fear consequences if they express disagreement or discomfort. I don’t know the answer to that question – that’s actually what the Board of Trustees exists to figure out, and I hope that they share more publicly than what they have so far.
I am highlighting the above comments to make a larger point, though. We don’t do a good job of showing up at local meetings. Very few of us participate in our government. And when we don’t show up, we cede ground to people with agendas that are organized, sometimes incoherent, and sometimes exclusionary of people in our communities. If we care about those things as much as I hope we still do, it is my sincere wish that more people, as a starting point, just begin paying more attention to what their local elected boards are doing in their name and what forces are influencing them.
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