We still have questions for the Hamilton Forum

We still have questions for the Hamilton Forum

In response to a Hamilton Forum event. The authors explain that the reason that students protested the event was due to the topic and title of the event being "purposefully inflammatory, harmful to our BIPOC peers and a continuation of the institutional and systemic racism that Middlebury upholds". The authors also state that their letter to the SLG received 649 students and 110 alumni signatures. Authors point out 1. that a major financial contributor to the forum (ISI) is an organization that promotes conservative policies that perpetuate institutional racism; 2. Professor Keegan Callanan, the director of the AHF, is on the council of the National Endowment for the Humanities (which is part of the Trump administration's "push" for "pro-America" curricula); 3. The hosting of this event seems to contradict the commitment Middlebury made to anti-racism in the summer. Finally, the authors express outrage at the way that peaceful/non-disruptive protesters of the event were treated ("Students were kicked off the Zoom call and permanently banned from the forum for various attempts at non-disruptive protest. Although digital protests are a new world for all of us, the AHF would have had no grounds for removing us from the room had this event been held in person and had we attended with the same intention to protest non-disruptively. How, then, is it acceptable that we were removed from this digital event? This [is a] blatant display of censorship").

Divya Gudur
Claire Contreras
Madison Holland

The Campus

10/08/2020

Divya Gudur
Claire Contreras
Madison Holland

"This summer, Middlebury publicly committed to anti-racism. Is hosting a debate that questions the very role that slavery played in this country’s founding anti-racist? Will the college ever pay more than just lip service to its BIPOC community members, or will it continue to ride its liberal reputation as it repeatedly prioritizes 'freedom of speech' over the safety of our BIPOC students?"