Dear supporters, We are thrilled by how widely this petition is being supported: so many voices from the international academic community, UvA alumni, and concerned citizens continue to sign and circulate this petition in hopes of sending a clear message about some of the biggest challenges facing the university today. Yesterday, the Amsterdam Humanities Faculty building Bungehuis was forcibly evicted by riot police forces, while a large group of UvA students and staff offered vocal support for the occupiers being arrested and non-violently resisted police efforts to reach the building. A total of 47 occupiers was arrested, three of whom were released the same day: 44 of our students decided to spend the night in jail because they believe in the struggle for a better university. We thank our students for making such a strong stand against problems that affect us all, both inside and outside of academic life. We also thank the many prominent academics who have publicly supported the petition to help publicize it and extend its range, including Noam Chomsky, Saskia Sassen, Judith Butler, and Axel Honneth (former Spinoza Chair at the UvA). We also thank the many supporters who have left such thoughtful comments on the petition website: especially Willem Schinkel, whose elaborate response offers important nuances that help the movement forward in productive directions, and whose comments are worth quoting here: "The challenge now is to come to a conception of the public tasks of the university. We need an account of the university that situates it in relation to its publics. We need to relearn how universities can aid in understanding and fighting over public concerns. We do not need vacuous calls for ‘autonomy’ that merely legitimate a cushioned form of inconsequential critique in the equally cushioned centre of Amsterdam. Students and staff, protesters and administrators alike need contestation over the public uses of the university. Autonomy is a cloak. Underneath it, what do we have to offer?" Since many have pointed out that the problems addressed in this petition quite obviously extend far beyond the University of Amsterdam, we have decided to add the Dutch Ministry of Education as recipient for the petition. Thanks again for your support, and please keep the petition circulating! yours in solidarity, Academics for a Free and Democratic University Dan Hassler-Forest (assistant professor, English Literature) Robin Celikates (associate professor, Philosophy) Sina Talachian (graduate student, Philosophy)