I'm so proud of the family Universities*
Apr. 22nd, 2025 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseStatement from the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Could the wording be stronger? Yes. Is it still a good first step? Absolutely.
There are some disappointments. The only University of California branch signing is at Riverside. Duke signed, but I didn't see Stanford. No one expected Columbia to sign, and they didn't, but I was surprised not to see Dartmouth joining with the other Ivies.
But I was also gratified to see American University (Dad for M.A. and Ph.D, me for one year), University of Maryland (me), Boston University (Sis for M.S., Dad as a professor, me as an administrator). Dad's undergraduate school, University of Richmond, and Sis's undergraduate school, Longwood, were not signatories.
University of Virginia may cover Longwood as it's part of the Commonwealth's University system, but I'm doubtful. I was shocked that Northeastern and Emerson didn't join. And somewhat taken aback that I didn't recognize the name of a single HBCU. I know that many black influencers refused to participate -- and encouraged their followers not to participate -- in the April 5 marches because white folks got them into this mess, so there may be an aspect of that. I would hope that the HBCUs will issue their own letter.
The single name that thrilled me the most, though, was Hollins University. It's a private women's college founded under the name Valley Union Seminary in Botetourt Springs, VA in 1841. By the time my great-great-grandmother graduated, it was known as the Hollins Institute. She won a commendation for French, and I still have the French language Bible she was awarded.
The women's colleges were well represented on the list. The only one of the old Seven Sisters whose name I didn't find was Barnard.
I don't know if other Universities can become signatories. It took a year-ish to get all the names on the Declaration of Independence, so I can hope. If it's possible and you don't see the name of your school(s), encourage them to sign. We need to stand together.
ETA: They are accepting signatures and quite a few have added them. MECURTIN: Georgetown has signed. And for my Boston peeps, Emerson has signed. I'm also excited by some of the community colleges that have signed. They're taking a risk. So seeing that Bunker Hill Community College is now on the list makes me very happy.
I was also assuming that the Heidelberg College was somewhere in the U.S., but now I think it's Heidelberg in Germany. Notre Dame de Namur in Belgium has signed.
Could the wording be stronger? Yes. Is it still a good first step? Absolutely.
There are some disappointments. The only University of California branch signing is at Riverside. Duke signed, but I didn't see Stanford. No one expected Columbia to sign, and they didn't, but I was surprised not to see Dartmouth joining with the other Ivies.
But I was also gratified to see American University (Dad for M.A. and Ph.D, me for one year), University of Maryland (me), Boston University (Sis for M.S., Dad as a professor, me as an administrator). Dad's undergraduate school, University of Richmond, and Sis's undergraduate school, Longwood, were not signatories.
University of Virginia may cover Longwood as it's part of the Commonwealth's University system, but I'm doubtful. I was shocked that Northeastern and Emerson didn't join. And somewhat taken aback that I didn't recognize the name of a single HBCU. I know that many black influencers refused to participate -- and encouraged their followers not to participate -- in the April 5 marches because white folks got them into this mess, so there may be an aspect of that. I would hope that the HBCUs will issue their own letter.
The single name that thrilled me the most, though, was Hollins University. It's a private women's college founded under the name Valley Union Seminary in Botetourt Springs, VA in 1841. By the time my great-great-grandmother graduated, it was known as the Hollins Institute. She won a commendation for French, and I still have the French language Bible she was awarded.
The women's colleges were well represented on the list. The only one of the old Seven Sisters whose name I didn't find was Barnard.
I don't know if other Universities can become signatories. It took a year-ish to get all the names on the Declaration of Independence, so I can hope. If it's possible and you don't see the name of your school(s), encourage them to sign. We need to stand together.
ETA: They are accepting signatures and quite a few have added them. MECURTIN: Georgetown has signed. And for my Boston peeps, Emerson has signed. I'm also excited by some of the community colleges that have signed. They're taking a risk. So seeing that Bunker Hill Community College is now on the list makes me very happy.
I was also assuming that the Heidelberg College was somewhere in the U.S., but now I think it's Heidelberg in Germany. Notre Dame de Namur in Belgium has signed.
