College admins regale students with anti-Trump diatribes
High-ranking college administrators nationwide are horrified by the results of the 2016 election, sending mass emails to their students to express their personal fear and outrage with Trump’s election.
At the University of Minnesota, for instance, the Dean of the College of Pharmacy sent a letter to students noting that she watched “the election returns last night with increasing shock and despair” over the fact that the voters of this country “could tolerate and even embrace a man whose campaign and actions have been so filled with hate.”
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“I must admit that I am afraid, afraid personally for my three beautiful, intelligent, and innocent American grandchildren with Pakistani heritage, afraid for this country and for our place in the world,” she added.
Similarly, Oglethorpe University’s president, Lawrence Schall, wrote to his students to explain that he has “no regrets” in using his position of authority to circulate his personal opinions, saying he has issued similar statements in the past responding to some of the nation’s mass shootings.
“I have no regrets at all about that decision. I felt then and I feel now that on certain issues at certain times in our history, the failure to speak out is far more dangerous than keeping silent. Today, for me, is another one of those times,” he continued, making “clear that I express my views first as a citizen of this country.”
He then reiterated his disbelief in the American public for its choice in electing a man “whose views on civility and inclusivity are so at odds with mine and with the values of our Oglethorpe community.”
“This morning, I can manage to get past his inexperience and lack of public service even though virtually every editorial page in the country, left or right leaning, failed to endorse him because of those traits,” he continued, explaining that “what he cannot get past” and what he “will refuse to overlook” is a “future of America that is divided by race, religion, sexual identity, and country of origin.”
The President of Pomona College, David Oxtoby, was similarly dumbfounded by Trump’s big win, saying he could not “understand how the country reached this point after the outpouring of hope I saw right here on campus just eight years ago.”
“Of course, we do not all have the same views on these issues, and that is one key strength of our diverse community,” he acknowledged, but then claimed that “when one person in our community is hurting, we all suffer, and many among us are feeling a great deal of pain and anxiety after yesterday’s election.”
Additionally, the University of Michigan’s president, Mark Schlissel, sent out a campus wide email to help students “absorb the results of the election,” citing several school resources that students can avail themselves of, including the school’s “counseling and psychological services office.”
The University of California, Berkeley’s disgraced chancellor, Nicholas Dirks, also sent out a message to his students to criticize Trump’s “pervasive rhetoric of intolerance.”
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“The election season has witnessed a pervasive rhetoric of intolerance across our nation, which has been a cause of alarm and concern for many of us,” he explained. “We must support each other at this time, and express solidarity with all groups and individuals who may fear for the future.”
Notably, University of California system president Janet Napolitano also sent out a joint statement with the chancellors of all 10 UC campuses assuring students of the system’s continuing support for “all members of our community,” noting that the administrators recognize the “understandable consternation” of Trump’s win.
Several other university presidents, including the presidents of Duke University, Loyola University, and Northwestern University, also issued similar statements in response to the election results.
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