Damien Memorial students get tough lesson on free speech in tussle over graduation

Damien Memorial School’s president has reversed course after abruptly canceling the school’s virtual graduation ceremony when students petitioned for an in-person gathering in the summer.

Brother Brian Walsh sent a terse email to seniors and their parents Monday informing them that none of the school’s commencement events would take place as a result of the students’ letter, which was signed by 42 of the 91 members of the class of 2020.

“He’s canceled everything — he’s not giving the kids a graduation,” parent Helen Barsby, whose daughter is graduating but did not sign the petition, said Tuesday. “It’s like a temper tantrum, an adult temper tantrum.”

But then a school counselor followed up with another email on behalf of Walsh on Tuesday afternoon, this one just to the graduates, that offered to restore the graduation ceremony if the student petitioners recanted.

“Br. Walsh is willing to have the Virtual Graduation plans go back on if you agree to reject the letter you had signed,” the email said.

Apparently, that tactic worked. Some students took to social media Tuesday afternoon, pushing their peers to remove their names from the petition. Later that day Walsh sent a new email saying the ceremonies would be held after all.

“Today I had the benefit of communication with the Damien Memorial Student Government Association and almost all members of the Class of 2020 who signed the letter I received and forwarded to you,” Walsh wrote Tuesday.

“It is to be hoped that the past few days were a ‘teachable moment’ for us all,” he concluded.

Barsby was appalled not just by the cancellation, but by the email that pressed students to remove their signatures from the letter.

“It was sent to minors, not the parents,” she said in an interview. “You can’t do that — that is extortion. What are we teaching our kids? We tell them to stand up and be a leader. We have freedom of speech. We fight for that freedom.”

As originally announced, a virtual ceremony will be streamed to students’ homes at 11 a.m. Sunday from the school’s campus in Kalihi, with speeches by administrators and students, followed by a drive-by diploma pickup that afternoon.

In their letter to Damien administration, the students wrote that they were disappointed in the virtual ceremony and suggested a gathering in July or early August on the school field. They gave examples of how some other schools were handling commencement during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Saint Louis and ‘Iolani School.

Matthew Mason, parent of a graduating senior, said his son didn’t sign the petition and that his family didn’t even know about it until they got Walsh’s email canceling the events. Walsh appended the students’ letter, which Mason described as “very polite,” to the bottom of his email.

“They were just asking for an opportunity if it arises to do something on campus,” Mason said. “It seems like the administration took that letter and went in a completely different direction. Instead of saying, ‘Yes, let’s look for an opportunity if we can to put together some kind of formal ceremony,’ we are just going to trash the plans we currently have.”

“They are affecting all of the students, all of their families and their extended families,” Mason said Tuesday before Walsh changed his mind. “Everybody really celebrates graduation. This is a really big deal for all of our kids.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser left messages at the school and with its representatives but received no response from Walsh or Principal Kyle Atabay. Damien has an enrollment of more than 700 boys and girls in grades six through 12 at its campus in Kalihi.

School staff had planned to make personal deliveries of caps and gowns to each of the seniors’ homes Tuesday, but those were called off. Those deliveries are now rescheduled for Thursday.

Walsh was appointed in January 2019 after the school’s owner, the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America, removed his predecessor, Wes Porter, citing local efforts to separate the school from the governance of the Christian Brothers.

The chairman of the school’s board of directors was also removed at that time, and the school’s Sponsor Council was dissolved.

Damien’s website has an entry titled “Board of Directors,” but it no longer lists any members and the board appears to be defunct.

Walsh has “no checks and balances,” Barsby said.