Vanderbilt Students Sit-in to Stand Up for McLaughlin

Earlier this week, on March 19th, Vanderbilt University Students staged their second sit-in in the offices of Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos. They carried signs demanding that VU reverse its denial of Professor BethAnn McLaughlin's tenure, along with a copy of this petition and its more than 11,000 signatures. 

The sit-in was covered by the Vanderbilt Hustler, explained that Prof. McLaughlin's tenure was approved by a faculty panel in 2017, only to be reversed when Dean Jeff Balser asked them to reconsider. This move is widely viewed as retaliation for Prof. McLaughlin's activism against sexual harassment on the Vanderbilt campus and beyond. The newspaper quoted student Dominique Szmkiewicz saying, "As a woman, I have a lot of passion for what she’s standing up for and what she’s been talking about and it’s definitely something that needs to change."

It is common for students to shoulder the responsibility for social change, but all of us can help them by signing this petition and emailing Chancellor Zeppos (chancellor@vanderbilt.com) to tell him that Vanderbilt must grant Prof. McLaughlin tenure. Standing against sexual harassment should not get someone fired. Vanderbilt should celebrate Prof. McLaughlin and help her lead the way to a safe, more inclusive campus culture.