Ask the Women of Vanderbilt to speak up!
Dear Friends,
On day 3 of this Week of Action, let’s talk to the women of Vanderbilt. Send emails to female leaders in the Vanderbilt community asking them to make their voices heard. Here’s a list that I’ve identified. Feel free to comment below with additional suggestions.
Susan Wente, Provost: provost@vanderbilt.edu
Nancy Cox, Mary Phillips Edmonds Gray Professor of Genetics: nancy.j.cox@vanderbilt.edu
Heidi Hamm, Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair in Cardiovascular Research: heidi.hamm@vanderbilt.edu
Victoria Greene, Chair of Faculty Senate: senta.v.greene@Vanderbilt.Edu
Linda Sealy, Associate Dean for Diversity: linda.sealy@vanderbilt.edu
Personal emails would go a long way, or you could use something like this:
I’m reaching out in support of Prof. BethAnn McLaughlin, who will lose her faculty position at Vanderbilt just days from now on Feb. 28. I am one of many who believe that Vanderbilt’s firing of Prof. McLaughlin is retaliatory and unjust. Prof. McLaughlin has been an outspoken critic of the Title IX process by which reports of harassment are investigated and adjudicated. She has launched campaigns asking Rate My Professor to drop its offensive “hotness” rating of faculty (successful) and asking the National Institutes of Health to develop policies to sanction NIH-funded investigators found guilty of sexual harassment (not yet successful). The courageous war Prof. McLaughlin has waged to protect women from “harassholes” has made her a hero among many women in academia and a pariah among those who support the status quo.
As a woman leader in the Vanderbilt community, your public support of Prof. McLaughlin would go a long way. Over 6,800 people have signed a Change.org petition asking Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos to reinstate Prof. McLaughlin and this broad public support is making its way into the media, including Science and Inside Higher Ed. Reinstating Prof. McLaughlin would show the world that Vanderbilt cares about women, supports targets of sexual harassment, and is serious about improving the climate on the Vanderbilt campus. I urge you to consider making your voice heard on this matter.