Earlier this month the Board of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary fired eight of its ten professors for staging a walkout to protest the racist, sexist, and intimidating behavior of Dean and President, Rev. Kurt Dunkle. I’m calling on the Board of Trustees to reinstate the eight professors, all of whom are respected educators, and properly investigate their claims of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. 

In a letter sent to the board in September the faculty claimed Dunkle referred to Asians as “slanty eyed” during a meeting and compared the technical side of running the seminary to “looking up women’s skirts.” The professors also claim Dunkle created a hostile work environment by threatening to fire  or demote people who disagreed with him.

These are serious accusations and the board of trustees has a responsibility to investigate them rather than simply firing employees for lodging legitimate complaints about workplace harassment. In failing to give the faculty members due process the board is sending a dangerous message about the right to strike and ethics and justice in academia.

Please sign to join me and hundreds of clergy members and faculty members from other seminaries in calling on the Board of Trustees to reinstate the eight faculty members and conduct a thorough investigation into their claims about workplace harassment.