Dear Mr. Plapinger and the Vassar College Board of Trustees, 

           Before the winter break began, we received an update from the Vassar administration outlining steps the administration plans to take to address some of the enormous concerns students and faculty have voiced regarding violence experienced at Vassar College. While many of these changes we see as positive, they are not new. Almost all of the changes outlined in the President’s email (on December 19th), as well as in the Margolis Healy report, have been suggested to the administration by concerned students and faculty for years. Not only have proposals been denied, at times, those who strategized, organized and wrote the proposals were disciplined.

           Incompetence, lack of imagination, and a profound absence of care on the behalf of the senior administration have brought us to where we are today. President Hill and Dean Roellke have both admitted that they have failed at their jobs of making Vassar a healthy and safe environment for all students. If their negligence and lack of ability to perform the duties of their job desperately affected the endowment, we all can be sure they would have been forced to look for work elsewhere a long time ago. It seems that when the damage is done to students, especially Brown and Black students, survivors of gender-based violence and queer identified students, these administrators are given chance after chance after chance to fail. This affording of third, fourth, and fifth chances when those most harmed are the most vulnerable in our society is a bedrock of racism and misogyny.

              We are calling for new senior leadership. Enough is enough. For the same reasons that President Hill and Dean Roellke have failed at their jobs in the past, we have no reason but to believe that they will continue failing in the future. Through the work of committed students, alumni and some faculty, our senior administration has been shamed, but they have not been reborn. The last semester has proven that this administration cares about their jobs, not the lives of the students at their school. Members of this community have had to risk too much to finally get our senior administrators to act.

            We are asking for an honest accountability that will not allow for the scapegoating of people or committees in less powerful positions. We are tired of the President and Dean of the College pointing fingers at everyone else. We are here to point a finger back at them. The work of committed students, some administrators and a few faculty has been made harder by the negligence of the current President and Dean of the College. We demand that any new administrator have a history of commitment to marginalized communities and their economic access to higher education, as well as a background in race and gender studies.

             We would like the opportunity to publicly discuss this issue with the Board, as well as specific institutional changes compiled by student organizers. We are asking for a public, open forum conversation between trustees and Vassar students, faculty and administration. We eagerly await a date and time of that meeting.

              Thank you for considering our demand for thoughtfully and critically considering change in leadership. We are still here. We deserve better from the institution we care so much about. We look forward to the opportunity to speak with you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Asia Alman ‘17

Ellie Amicucci ‘18

Kira Arnold ‘15

Sophie Asakura ‘16

Cheikh Athj ‘16

Laura Barreto ‘17

Max Baumbach '15

Amelia C. Bell '09

Tracey Blasenheim '08

Carly Bloomfeld '16

Alexandra Bowditch ‘15

Noelle Boyle ‘89

Emily Bray '07

Matt Brown ‘16

Jordan Brooker ‘15

Renee Bryant  ‘15

Nicole Buntin ‘06

Rob Burnett ‘98

Grace Cannon ‘10

Sofie Cardinal ‘15

Evan Casper-Futterman '07

Kiran Chapman '15

Cecilia Cholst '11

Cyrus Cohen ‘18

Ethan Cohen '16

Juliette Cohen '05

Nicholas Connolly ‘16

Tiffany Lee Corwin '06

Cheniah Deane ‘16

Brian Deer '15

Daniel Doctor ‘16

Daniel Dones ‘16

Luke Dowker ‘17

Caroline Dubinsky '05

Sean Eads ‘15

Jake Ellis ‘15

Elisheva Epstein '15

Katherine Flynn ‘09

Charlotte Foley ‘18

Eleanor Fort ‘08

Jeffrey From ‘15

Judi Cron Friedman ‘57

Kim Friedman ‘84

Alexia Garcia '18

Liza Garrity ‘17

Adam Gaubinger '09

Cameron Gerrity ‘17

J’nae Gibs ‘15

Alex Gittens '17

Emily Goddard ‘15

Scott Goddard '74

Lydia Gold ‘17

Riley Gold '14

Ricky Goldman '12

Kathleen Gould '15

Emma Gregoline ‘15

Courtney Gugliuzza '06

Rishi Gune ‘17

Joanna Hamer '12

Jameson Hargear ‘15

Lily Harford ‘17

Michelle Harvey '14

Asia Howard ‘16

Mary Huber '15

Michele A. Irwin '97

Raquel Jackson-Stone ‘16

Clara Jacob '80

Tanvi Jaluka '17

Rebecca Jannou ‘16

Liz Jeninga ‘06

Naomi Johnson ‘16

Reeve Johnson '14

Andrew Joung '16

Evan Kamber '15

Sammi Katz '14

Kiran Kawolics ‘15

Phoenix Kenne '16

Maya Khatri ‘15

Jennifer Kirschner '08

Gwen Korbel '90

Roxanna Krawczyk ‘07

Natalie Limón '15

Sara Lobo ‘16

Tatiana Londono ‘16

Whitney Manhart ‘15

Raphael Mariani '18

Kathleen Marroquin '08

Susie Martinez ‘15

Alix Masters ‘15

Emma Matters '15

Rhyston Mays '16

Nnennia Mazagwu ‘17

Clare McClellan '18

April McDowell '89

Alejandro McGhee ‘16

Alyssa Michek '08

Lorena Lomeli Moreno ‘15

Orion Morrison-Worrell ‘17

Robert Muller ‘06

Caitlin Munchick ‘17

Erin Murray ‘15

Bennett Nagurka ‘18

Andrea Negrete '15

Sarah New '15

Lily Ngaruiya ‘15

Benedict Nguyen '15

Jonathan Nichols ‘17

Niya Nicholson '14

Sean O’Connor ‘17

Bailey O’Malley ‘15

Hunter Oatman-Stanford '07

Benno Orlinsky ‘15

Ezra Orlinsky '17

Bianca Pasternack ‘11

Karen Elaine Peters '76

Soshyan Petroulas ‘17

Emilia Plater-Zyberk '15

Wilson Platt ‘14

Thomas Poole '14

Taylor Pratt '15

Emma Redden ‘15

Meredith Reitman ‘95

Hannah Reynolds ‘16

Dallas Robinson '14

Geoffrey Roecker '06

Henry Rosen ‘17

Tessa Rudnick ‘18

Rainy Rues ‘14

Jared Saunders '13

Ruth Sawyer '10

Mikey Saugstad '16

Melissa Scardaville '97

Max Scher '07

Anna Schlosser ‘14

Yael Schwartz ‘15

Keith Scribner ‘84

Alessandra Seiter '16

Pedro Sepulveda, Jr. ‘14

Sara Sezun '88

Julia Sharpe-Levine ‘14

Lily Shell '16

Claudia Sickinger-Harris '89

Joseph Simon ‘18

Tessa Solomon-Lane ‘08

Yasani Spencer ‘17

Saisha Srivastava ‘17

Maya Sudarkasa '18

Janusz Sulanowski ‘12

Kali Tambree ‘17

Devon Tart ‘17

LeeAnne Taylor '15

Kieran Teare-Thomas ‘18

Cierra Thomas ‘16

Ben Tidswell ‘18

Leonel Torres ‘15

Connor Toth ‘15

Mallory Tyler ‘16

Michael Uhll ‘17

Saul Ulloa ‘15

Cristian Uriostegui ‘17

Ellie Vamos ‘17

Rob Voigt '08

Alex Voynow '15

Amanda Wallwin ‘02

Claire Walsh ‘09

Libby White ‘16

Tyler Wilch ‘17

Vanessa Will '99

Rudi Williams ‘16

Andrew Willett '17

Morgan Williams ‘17

Savannah Wiman ‘18

Arick Wong '14

Shenandoah Wrobel '18

Jason Wu ‘09

Nate Wulff '15

Krista Zamurs '17

  

If you would like to officially add your name to this letter, please email us at vassarorganizers@gmail.com with your name and class year. Thank you!