Dear Karen Fischer and the Castilleja Board of Trustees,
I am writing to you concerning the recent removal of Castilleja teacher Bear Capron from his classes and from the school campus. Although I am connected to the school in many ways, it is in the role of a concerned alumna that I write to you now. You have already heard so eloquently from alumna Carey Jones '04 about what a remarkable person and teacher Bear Capron is, and I don't believe that I could put those sentiments any more articulately or more completely than she already has. I will only say that I fully agree with everything she has said about my former teacher and mentor and that I do not feel that she exaggerates Bear's role as a "cornerstone" in the Castilleja community.
My connection to Castilleja is longer and more extensive than that of most alumnae. After graduation I returned to work for the school's summer programs for 5 years and eventually directed the summer camp. I have worked with Rudy on school events, worked in the Development Office when the department lost all of its employees, taught physics and chemistry, and substitute-taught for almost every single department in both the middle and upper school. My mother has taught at this school for 23 years, and I married a Castilleja teacher on the Circle almost 10 years ago. I have a unique and deep understanding of the current culture of the school and have watched that culture shift over its past 20-year history from an alumna, faculty, and staff perspective. While I was a student at Castilleja, Bear nurtured, challenged, and guided me from ninth through twelfth grade. Through the theatrical roles he offered me, Bear introduced me to a spectrum of human experience widely outside of my own. He was also the first gay role model in my life, which increased my understanding and comfort with human diversity. These are early insights that I am fiercely proud of and continually thankful for now. After college, Bear listened and helped as I pondered a career in theater and provided support and encouragement when I finally chose a path that truly honored his influence—that of a teacher and counselor to young people. As a person so connected to the school, I am gravely concerned about the effects that this situation is having on our larger community. Many faculty are deeply saddened by Bear's unexplained disappearance. They are worried for his health and his well-being. They are also now fearful for their own jobs as well as those of their colleagues—who, they now realize, could disappear at any moment without warning. This kind of fear is no position from which to engage in the teaching of young people. Many students are despondent and confused. As is clear from the combination of warm, outraged, and remarkably thoughtful posts on the "We Want Uncle Bear Back" Facebook page, they are beginning to ask questions about this process and whether the decision to remove him was just.
Justice is an important theme with teenagers. As a current adolescent and family psychotherapist, I see my patients taking in information about the spoken and unspoken rules of society and institutions they are a part of. I see them expanding their understanding of the nuances of ethical behavior and justice. They are moving away from rigid black-and-white thinking and are learning to develop their own voices of expression and leadership. They mostly learn these things from the way that the adults around them behave and react. There is no doubt that Bear Capron's abrupt disappearance is a profound experience for current students and recent alumnae. The lessons they take away from this situation will change and define their views of the world around them. Judging from their comments on the Facebook page, what they are currently learning is that their school is a unjust system where there is no due process. They are learning that one mistake, even after decades of service, can have grievous results. They have learned that, in a place they feel safest, it is dangerous to express yourself. Some students are losing trust in their teachers and believe that they are withholding information or even lying to them. Concerned students are learning that they have no voice and no power to speak out. In an institution that prides itself on creating poised, confident, ethical young leaders, these lessons are nothing short of tragic. We, as the adults in this situation, have the power to turn those lessons around so that students feel heard and empowered. We have the opportunity and responsibility to restore faith and trust in an institution that surely has only their best interests at heart.
I understand that it may have been the Board's policy to leave personnel matters entirely in the hands of the Head of School. But, as a therapist, I know that true objectivity and impartiality can be difficult to maintain in deeply emotional situations. In such circumstances, it seems unfair to expect the Head of School to make a decision of this magnitude alone. This is especially true for a decision that has the capacity to affect the entire community so profoundly. It is clear from the reaction of both faculty and students that the community's trust in this process has not yet been established. While the loss of a person like Bear Capron on campus cannot be overstated, it is also the lack of transparency and the lack of trust in the process that is resulting in a great deal of emotional damage within the community.
This situation is also beginning to have a profound effect on the alumnae community as well. Castilleja is an extraordinary school and, more than current students, alumnae have the perspective to be able to truly appreciate the school. We are grateful to Castilleja because it provided us with one of the finest academic educations in the country and prepared us for leadership, critical thinking, and effecting change. But our deep love for the school is because of the way that it took care of our hearts, our souls, and our developing sense of selves at a time when we were looking for answers about how the world worked and who we wanted to be in it. Our amazing faculty were the primary source of this guidance and care. This is what creates not just a school, but an emotional home, a home that still exists in the minds of many Castilleja alumnae. We believed, up until now, that we had a community that was based in love, trust, fairness and justice. It is this fundamental belief about the foundation and quality of our school that I see being challenged in the minds of current and former students by this situation. I urge the Board to prove to the entire community that this belief is not just a fantasy for children, but is actually the principle on which the school operates.
Bear Capron lived Castileja's commitment to provide a positive, nurturing, and just educational experience for all it students every day of his past 20 years of service. His gifts to students, to faculty and to the community as a whole cannot be measured or quantified. I urge the Board to step in and create a committee to evaluate the decision behind his removal. This will hopefully provide the transparency and trust needed to begin to heal the damage done by the disappearance of such a well-loved and well-respected member of our community.
Thank you,
Joelle Mourad Mitchell '93
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