As former graduate students in the English Department at Virginia Tech, we were disturbed and horrified to hear that Mark Neuhoff, a current English MA student & English composition teacher, is an avowed white supremacist.

We were even more disturbed to see how the department, and the university as a whole, have handled the complaints lodged against Mark.

As graduates of VT’s English Department and former graduate teaching assistants, we’re deeply disappointed by the lack of leadership, accountability, and compassion we’ve seen in the university’s response to white supremacy on campus. University administrators have the privilege and responsibility of creating an inclusive campus for all students. That means acknowledging the fear that students and colleagues of color feel when they’re faced with a white supremacist on campus. It means taking real action to mitigate that fear. It means being willing to step up and speak out against white supremacy.

We stand with students who are protesting Mark Neuhoff’s continued employment with the English Department. It’s long past time to take real action. We want to see Bernice Hausman, Timothy Sands, and other university administrators respond to these concerns with the gravity they warrant and remove Mark Neuhoff from his teaching position.

Silence is tacit approval. At a moment in history when racist ideology is an ever-growing threat to people of color in our country, you are in the unique and privileged position of having the power to take REAL action to protect students of color. Protecting these students is not only your privilege, but your responsibility. We want to see increased transparency about actions the university is taking to protect Jewish students and students of color, and we want to the university offer a clear, unequivocal rejection of Mark Neuhoff’s views. We also want to see you do the right thing and reject white supremacy on Virginia Tech’s campus by taking action to remove Mark Neuhoff from his teaching position.

To read more about Mark Neuhoff and the university's response, please see our post on Medium here.