Dear Colby Parents:
Over the past two days, I have heard from many of you concerning a troubling series of events on campus early Sunday morning that resulted in two Colby students being arrested and charged with criminal trespass and assault.
I want to assure you that these events do not represent the standards of mutual respect, trust, and personal responsibility that we as a community aspire to observe. In addition to sharing my personal concern, I want to share with you the steps we are taking to come to terms both with the events themselves and the many questions they raise.
The College is taking immediate action to investigate the incidents. The first step in this process, which began Sunday and continues as I write to you today, is to interview the participants in a fair, impartial, and non-threatening way. We need to make sure that we have all the facts. At the same time that this fact finding is moving forward, I will be working to identify a person or organization independent of the College to evaluate the facts, make determinations about what happened, and suggest appropriate changes to Colby's policies and procedures. I will communicate more about this piece of the process in the coming days.
As we take these steps, I urge everyone in the community to withhold judgment about what may have happened and what actions might now be appropriate. I know this is difficult, given the intensity of feelings that have surfaced. But we owe it to everyone involved, most particularly our students, and to the sense of community that we value so highly, to permit a fair and impartial evaluation to move forward.
William D. Adams
President
