Hesston College dedicated a monument acknowledging “shortcomings and errors” and “acts of violence that have broken the bonds of trust in our community” Dec. 4, more than a year and a half after the Healing Circle was constructed on campus.

The event — part of the college’s first Unity Day — took place one year after students walked out of Formation (chapel) Dec. 2, 2022, and gathered at the circle to protest what student leaders described as an unsafe campus where staff minimized or ignored reports of sexual assault.

Unity Day included workshop sessions on spirituality and trauma, bystander intervention training and resiliency in adversity. Students again walked from the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary to the circle, this time to reflect on what has happened in the past year.

“I think Unity Day went well for it being our first one,” said Meg Beyer, a senior in the business management program who helped lead last year’s protest and is now a member of the college’s Title IX Implementation Group. “It made me feel like the work we put into the demands we wrote and the walkout as a whole wasn’t for nothing. We actually did something that is making a difference on this campus.”

In a news release, the college described the first annual Unity Day as a part of efforts to correct past wrongs regarding Title IX, a federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sex.

“The timing of this event was chosen to mark the one-year anniversary of the peaceful student protest held last year in which students bravely shared their experiences with the college’s Title IX program,” said Whitney Douglas, Title IX coordinator and Title IX Implementation Group chair, in the release. “We now want to honor the work of our students whose activism and passion drew attention to problems with the college’s Title IX program and pushed for authentic and sustainable change.”

Unity Day was created by the Title IX Implementation Group “to encourage collaboration and unity while celebrating the diversity of the Hesston College community” by engaging social issues impacting campus.

“I am excited for a chance to publicly acknowledge and apologize for institutional failures and shortcomings, celebrate the progress our community has made and be re-energized for the work that is still before us,” Douglas said in the release.

Workshops were led by Karen Bartlett, author of When Spirituality and Trauma Collide: A Guidebook for Practitioners of Soul Care, campus counselor Jose Gloria and Douglas.

In 2016, the college’s board of directors authorized a Sexual Misconduct and Interpersonal Safety Task Force to assess strengths and areas for growth. In 2019 the task force recommended procedures for reporting and investigating incidents of sexual misconduct and creating a system to support victims, along with a system of institutional accountability.

In May 2022, the Healing Circle was installed on the east side of Alliman Administration Center. A plaque acknowledges errors and broken trust and states a commitment to “listen and believe those who have experienced harm in our community’s care.”

The 2022 student protest led to an external investigation. The report was released April 14 and found the college failed to consistently respond to reports of harassment and violence, failed to provide complainants with consistent care and information, and improperly used resolutions focused on forgiveness to resolve student concerns.

“There is a tangibly different feeling on campus this year, and that is due to the vast efforts of the Title IX Implementation Group and countless others,” Douglas said in the release. “We have begun to roll out a robust and holistic wellness program that promotes healthy relationships, teaches about boundaries and consent and encourages individual growth and healing emotionally, physically and spiritually.”