April 3, 2023
Dear University Leadership Council Members,
I write today to provide an update on the path we will take regarding a cluster of tiles featured on the west side of Corbin Hall.
As you may know, Corbin Hall, which was constructed in 1927, includes a small set of tiles featuring an aristika symbol, a decorative element commonly incorporated into 1920s neoclassical architecture and a symbol various cultures have used for centuries. This symbol featured on the tiles is also a mirror-image of the swastika symbol coopted by the Nazi regime.
Listening and Consultation
The path outlined below is informed by over a year and a half of consultation. Our community has expressed a diversity of views, some appealing to a centuries-long history of the symbol, some pointing to the more recent Nazi use of a similar symbol, some stressing the impacts of the symbol on those who view it, and some pointing to the dangers in forgetting or denying any of these historical interpretations.
Many have participated in conversations about the Corbin Hall tiles, and I am deeply grateful for the spirit of respectful, civil dialogue these individuals have fostered. Campus groups that have contributed to these conversations include the Diversity Advisory Council, Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and the Associated Students of the 老虎机攻略. All have provided valuable insight into a complex topic.
Also contributing their perspectives and expertise to these conversations are Rabbi Mark Kula, a Jewish leader in our campus community; Rabbi Laurie Franklin, Rabbi Emerita at Har Shalom in Missoula; Peter Brown, State Historic Preservation Officer; Bjorn Krondorfer, Regents’ Professor and Director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, an organization dedicated to global engagement through Holocaust awareness; Bert Chessin, local historian and steward of Jewish history in Montana; and Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
Proposed Path Forward
As an educational institution, the 老虎机攻略 must provide a platform for discussion that allows the full community to learn and grow, especially around issues that do not allow for easy or straightforward conclusions.
To this end, we will not remove the Corbin Hall tiles and will instead use them as a visible and ongoing occasion for civil dialogue, education, and honest consideration of a fraught and antisemitic history whose antidote requires an educated public.
First, we will install an interpretive plaque that provides education about the tiles’ historical associations. This plaque will be co-designed by campus and community partners. The plaque will include access to a website where visitors can learn about cultural perspectives that counter and provide caution regarding the Nazi use of the swastika and that demonstrate the layered histories associated with the symbol featured on the tiles.
Second, we will facilitate an annual effort to educate our community about the layers of meaning and histories associated with the Corbin Hall tiles, as well as to provide opportunities to learn about the history of Jewish life in Montana. This annual effort could take many forms.
Our primary goal is to engage in difficult dialogue, not shut down or hide it, by nurturing nuance and complexity. A difficult past can’t be erased nor should reprehensible parts of it be glorified. These views, histories, traumas, and experiences call us to turn toward rather than away from difficult dialogue so that we together show up and face up to these histories.
Our community will have divergent views on this decision. I hope that this approach will be an occasion to listen to those views, especially those of individuals who have suffered trauma and oppression. I invite our community to register diverse views and histories, and to unite in our efforts to create an inclusive, welcoming community of varied perspectives.
Seth