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I'm so proud of the family Universities*
Statement 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.
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Of my family universities, Princeton (me & Dirk) & Wesleyan (Beth) have been out in front on this--Michael Roth, President of Wes, was writing op-eds & making statements *months* before the other universities got in gear. Penn (my grad school) is a signatory. U. Wisconsin-Madison, where my parents met & got their grad degrees, has signed, as has Colby (my brother).
Univ. Connecticut, where Dad taught for the last 20 years of his career, has *not*. Neither has University of Chicago (Mom's Master's) or Georgetown (Dad's Master's), nor Brandeis (kid #2).
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I wish Dartmouth surprised me, but it doesn't. I'm thrilled Columbia has signed. But seriously, where's UC Berkeley? Even if none of the other UCs signed, I expected Berkeley. Riverside, CA should not be in the forefront.
I want to see Virginia Tech, Cal Tech, and some of the other big tech schools throw their hats in.
[Speaking of which, I just went back to the letter and the list has expanded. Cal Poly Pomona, where one of my cousin's kids goes is now on the list. YEA! The New School which is socially conservative is now a signatory.]
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My alma mater is missing; looks like I need to send an email.
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