Dear University of Kansas Chancellor Doug Girod and Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer,

We petition you to rescind the PhD that KU has accorded Pamela S. Whitten in 1996 because Dr. Whitten has engaged in plagiarism while writing her PhD dissertation, as documented by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

We are comforted to know from a previous case at KU that you rightly do not tolerate plagiarism. We hope that you will apply the same high standards in the case of KU alumna Pamela S. Whitten.

You may feel that having a KU alumna as president of a Big Ten University is an asset, but the current President Whitten has disgraced herself through her repeated violations of free speech, academic freedom, faculty protections, and Indiana University (IU) policies, to the point where she received a historic vote of no confidence from 93% of the faculty this past April, with most of the remaining 7% abstaining from voting. 

In addition, multiple campus and school votes from the past spring semester indicate that the faculty overwhelmingly do not approve of Pamela Whitten, her appointees, her management, her judgement, or her agenda.

To continue to associate KU with Pamela S Whitten as she spirals down from one scandal to the next will only damage the reputation of your venerable institution.

Thank you for your consideration of our petition and best wishes, 

IU students, alumni, staff, faculty, and others who care about IU.