“We think that the Christian liberal arts can give us the courage and grace to address racial tensions, yet more of our conversations about social injustice need to translate into actions in our curriculum and community,” Provost Sargent says. “The plans that we offer, as imperfect as they are, are not ends in themselves, but new steps on a journey that will require many to ache, to listen, to reorient our thinking, to redress harm, and to walk with greater humility with one another and with God.” 


Pursuing Justice and Reconciliation in the Westmont Community

“Justice is at the heart of the gospel. Engaging with issues of social justice lies at the very core of our submission to God, who has told us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.” 

Blake Thomas ICP

Blake Thomas possesses a deep passion for pursuing God’s heart for justice and reconciliation.  As the interim director of Intercultural Programs since June 2020, he strives to engage the Westmont community in a gospel-centered dialog about systemic racism and social justice. 

Previously, Blake worked with a non-profit in Houston that assists churches in addressing issues related to poverty, culture, race, historical injustice and reconciliation in their communities. He prayerfully considered the opportunity to serve at Westmont and decided to continue his work of pursuing justice and reconciliation in a new way. 

He strives to help Westmont students develop confidence that the gospel speaks directly to issues of race and oppression and conviction that the church plays an integral role in upholding the worth of every person as an image bearer of God. “Christianity has everything to do with oppression and suffering,” he says. “God doesn’t just care about soul and spirit. He cares for us in the here and now. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” 

Growing up in a black church, Blake never questioned that, but he often encounters students discouraged by the church’s disregard for issues affecting people of color. As leader of Intercultural Programs (ICP), he seeks to support students who believe they must leave the four walls of the church for other movements to work for justice and racial inequality. He wants ICP to be a community that encourages people to view questions of race, justice and equity through a Christ-like framework. “Justice is at the heart of the gospel,” Blake says. “Engaging with social justice doesn’t distract the church from the gospel; it lies at the very core of our submission to God, who has told us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with him.”

To more effectively engage in gospel-centered justice and reconciliation within the Westmont community, Blake has fostered collaboration between ICP and other Westmont programs, including the Campus Pastor’s Office, Ministry and Outreach, Spiritual Formation Coordinators, and the Westmont College Student Association (WCSA). 

 Under Blake’s leadership, ICP has organized several opportunities to discuss systemic racism and social justice. A two-unit course, the Racial Justice Study Series, allows students to explore issues such as the history of racist ideas, injustice in the colonial world and the United States, the formation of ethnic identities and postcolonial theology. 

In partnership with WCSA, ICP hosted a Zoom event, Conversations that Matter, where students examined whether social justice is biblical, addressed Westmont’s current racial climate, and discussed the role of the church in combating racism and oppression. 

ICP has joined with WCSA to develop a three-part Zoom series, Biblical Lament. Part I considered the meaning of lament, and Part II will focus on self-examination and confession in addressing ways Westmont falls short as a community. Finally, Part III will emphasize the biblical hope we have for justice as we submit ourselves to God and work with him in this mission. ICP will also collaborate with the Ministry and Outreach Office in the spring to create several additional opportunities for students to engage issues of race and social justice within a biblical framework.

Recognizing that 2020 has left students feeling drained, Blake has worked on creating spaces of rest, community and healing for Westmont students within ICP. Reinvigorated conversations about race have sparked a new passion for social justice in many students but have also exhausted students of color, who have dealt with these issues on a daily basis and wonder why these discussions are only now taking place. Blake intentionally fosters the emotional and mental health of ICP students. 

Ultimately, Blake firmly believes that Scripture must take primacy when engaging issues of social justice in the Westmont community. The Bible calls the church to pursue both reconciliation and justice. “They are connected,” Blake says. “You can’t have one without the other. As Christians, we must focus on both.” Reconciliation means more than the absence of conflict. True reconciliation requires justice and demands right and equitable relationships. Similarly, Blake emphasizes that justice without reconciliation is not biblical justice, “Christ calls us to live at peace with all people and desires his church to demonstrate unity in the midst of a culture of division.”