Opinion | Eastman’s impact on the value of a Chapman degree

Mady Dever, Opinions Editor

As a senior entering my final semester at Chapman University, it feels like I am floating listlessly on a conveyor belt that, come May, will dump me off somewhere in the real world. I will then have to clamber my way through, trying to figure out what my next step will be.

I will have completed my senior year entirely online and at this point, I’ve developed a very nonchalant feeling towards remote learning. I’ve come to terms with the state of our world. When I log out of Canvas for the last time, delete “my.chapman.edu” from my bookmarks bar, and turn in my last assignment, I will have reached the part of the conveyor belt that gets looped back to the beginning – except now I’m forced to jump off. 

But as I filled out job application after job application over winter break, rereading my resume and proofing my cover letters until the lines blurred, I had an epiphany. Could former law professor John Eastman serving for former President Donald Trump’s legal counsel or speaking at a Jan. 6 “Save America” rally prior to the Capitol Hill insurrection alter how a recruiter views my qualifications and candidacy?

I’m entering a world that can’t stand on its own two feet, as we’re wondering whether we will ever be comfortable enough to go back to work as we used to. Regardless, this semester will be half-spent finishing my thesis script for two television series while the other half constitutes filling out job applications and emailing my entire contact list to send a little, “Hey there, can I have a job, please?” I would prefer to not have to worry about an ex-professor affecting my chances for future employment. 

Chapman’s name is Eastman’s name in the news and our university is automatically tied to his Jan. 6 speech that helped incite a riot and doubt in our electoral systems. How does this affect my degree’s worth?

I can’t help but feel slightly conflicted about writing “Chapman University” on my resume letterhead. When a potential employer sees those two words, will they assume my views align with this man who has consequently cast the whole university in shadow? Do the viewpoints and personal career of one have future consequences for the thousands of students who learn at the same institution he’s employed by? 

I’d have to think that the hundreds of Chapman professors feel Eastman’s weight on their research and academic reputation — that their knowledge and expertise are diminished to fit the current reflection of the university. It’s the same way that the general student body would define a “liberal school” like the University of California, Santa Cruz, or a “party school” like San Diego State University. We are a collective body, and when a sensational figure within an institution very boldly associates themselves with a particular person, political party or ideology, the entire population is generalized based on that one association.

Yet I spoke with some non-Chapman friends about the Eastman headlines in the news. At their schools, they mentioned they had experienced a similar scandal of their own. Maybe — just maybe — we can hope that Chapman pushes forward enough to make this Eastman saga float away into the ether and we as students can make the university a place we are proud to attend.

Never have I had the thought before that I should hide where I went to school, nor should I have to. I spent four years working hard to earn a degree in screenwriting. So, no, I am not going to cower and worry what others may think when they see that school name they could have sworn they saw in the news the other day. Some man I’ve never even interacted with doesn’t get to have that power over the blood, sweat and tears it took to earn my degree. This is our school and our life. Eastman has retired, and so too should his influence over my degree’s value.