To the faculty and professional staff who signed the “Faculty and Professional Staff Statement on Harassment and Intimidation on Campus:” Thank you.
Since the results of the presidential election were announced, tensions have been high around the Oswego State campus. There have been peaceful protests and discussions held in classrooms centering around the election’s results.
That does not mean that people can personally attack those whose beliefs are different from their own. Unfortunately, on the Oswego State campus, some people feel that it is OK to target certain people based on their beliefs or their political views.
The faculty and professional staff at Oswego State have signed a letter stating that the targeting, intimidation and exclusion of any group or anyone will not be tolerated. Professors across all departments have united in the fight against intolerance.
According to the campus wide announcement sent on Nov. 10, the “Faculty Assembly passed a resolution to counter implicit bias earlier this semester.”
The email states: “This presidential election year was, for many members of our campus community, their first experience with the political process. This year’s presidential election season was unlike those in recent years in terms of a normalization of biased and racist rhetoric. This hate speech, not new but newly legitimized, has come to infect our campus. As faculty and professional staff at SUNY Oswego, we are as committed to academic freedom and protecting the freedom of speech as we are standing up to harassment, threats and incitement.”
Students need role models who value their rights to freedom of speech. Sure, professors can have their own beliefs, but it is good to see how open they are to the ideas of their students rather than enforcing their own ideas in the classroom. It is their job, as professors, to have respectful discussions to bounce ideas off of one another.
They are here to help. They are here to listen. They have come together in this petition to make it known across campus.
The petition is a demonstration of the impact the election had on this campus by the full range of academic and administrative departments that are represented. This list continues to grow as more faculty members become aware of the message.
Two students, Emily Nassir, Student Association President, and Dalton Bisson, SA Vice President, represented on the list, feel that this is such an important statement that it should be open to the whole campus community.
People can have varying opinions in regards to politics but when it comes to harassment or actions that negatively impact other students, everyone should agree that this type of behavior is unacceptable.
Coming into college, it should not be the expectation to be harassed in any way based on a personal beliefs and ideas.
This is college.
Students should be free to express themselves without the fear of judgement. It should be an enjoyable time filled with memories they are willing to look back on.
It is comforting to know we have such a diverse and caring faculty and professional staff that would come together in this time of unrest.
Once again, thank you.
