Columbia Theological Seminary students object to firing of Black administrator

Black students at Columbia Theo­logical Seminary, a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary in Decatur, Georgia, are protesting the surprise firing of a beloved admissions director, saying it’s the latest in a series of firings of faculty and administration of color since 2019.

On June 21, after most faculty, staff, and students had left campus for the summer, the Columbia community received an email from President Leanne Van Dyk informing them that it was Samuel White’s last day.

The following day, the seminary’s African Heritage Student Association published a letter addressed to the presi­dent’s council and board of trustees expressing “deep sadness and tremendous frustration” over the incident and asserting that Van Dyk’s tenure “has been defined by racial injustice.”