Open Letter to GWU President Thomas LeBlanc
Written 4.24.2018
President LeBlanc:
On March 19th, a student on this campus pushed a wall down in the direction of 15 students, with full knowledge that his actions may cause physical harm to students. The night of Sunday, April 15th, individuals connected with the blacklisting site Canary Mission came to this campus and posted defamatory and attacking flyers and stickers around campus. It was after that moment that I contacted your office to make a simple request.
On April 17th, I requested that your office formally and publicly respond to those attacks against Palestinian students and pro-Palestine student organizers. I asked that your office make students aware that such attacks would not be tolerated, and that you would stand with students and prioritize their safety. I asked that your office meet with students concerned about and attacked by these incidents. There was ample time for your office to prepare a statement.
When individuals affiliated with Canary Mission returned to campus on Sunday, April 22nd, I again made the same request for a formal and public statement regarding and condemning those attacks on students on this campus. When I saw you walking through Kogan Plaza, and began a conversation about what your response would entail, you reassured me that you would be looking into the possibility of writing a statement. You dismissed me thereafter, looked me in the eye, and said, “nice to meet you.” I doubt the sincerity of your description of our meeting as “nice,” and was ultimately not surprised that you had forgotten the three times we had met prior. You simply don’t know or acknowledge your students as much as you should.
When I awoke today, April 24th, I found that you had written a statement; this statement was not about students’ safety or the attacks from the outside world against students on this campus, but was about the University’s endowment. A mere ten-and-a-half hours after the Student Association passed the divestment resolution, SR-S18–21, you had made your statement and had rigorously defended the University’s endowment.
President LeBlanc, you are a disappointment.
Where was that rigorous defense when it came to student safety? Why, when you had one week to prepare a statement about student safety and about attacks against students on this campus, did you instead write a statement about the University’s investments? How do you intend to keep students safe when your priorities clearly rest elsewhere?
When it comes to student safety, you’re silent. When it comes to the University’s endowment and investments, you are its chief defender. How should a prospective student feel, knowing that the President of this University will speak out about a divestment resolution, but not about their personal safety and security? How should a mother feel, knowing that you value a bottom line over the safety of her child?
Eighteen student senators had the moral resolve and ethical conscience to defend students’ safety, dignity, and human rights. You, on the other hand, barely maintain the moral resolve or ethical conscience to acknowledge me in a conversation, or recognize the gravity of the topics I addressed with your office. The President and Executive Vice President of the Student Association dedicated the last week to ensure the safety and security of students in attendance at their meetings, working with administrators and GWPD to ensure that every threat was appropriately handled. Their dedication to this issue resulted in GWPD effectively responding to and removing masked individuals that threatened the students present at last night’s Student Association meeting. You did nothing. You handled nothing. Instead, you defended dollars.
President LeBlanc, your prioritization of dollars over students is a stain on this University. In the past, the Student Association decided not to divest from companies supporting apartheid South Africa; that decision, like your error this week, left a stain on this university. The Student Association decided last night to take the first step in cleaning off the stain that their predecessors left. It should not be students that have to wipe this University clean of your errors.
President LeBlanc, do better. Be better. You should be prioritizing student safety, security, and dignity, over the University’s endowment. When you meet with the Board of Trustees in May, make sure you bring a copy of your statement from April 24th. I’ll make sure to bring the blank page you issued when it came to student safety.
Raise High and Raise Higher
Tyler Katz