We, the undersigned students, alumni/ae, faculty, and staff of Vassar College, wish to communicate our total support for Professor of English and Medieval Literature Dorothy Kim. Professor Kim is an innovative scholar and valued educator on this campus. Because of her work and writing resisting the white supremacist appropriation of Medieval Studies and promoting racial justice in the classroom, she has been subject to unprofessional and racialized attacks from fellow academics and white supremacists alike. We add our voices to the International Piers Plowman Society and the Medieval Academy of Arts when we condemn the racist and anti-scholarly behavior of Dr. Kim’s attackers and confirm our complete support for her and her writings.
Dr. Kim, as both a junior faculty member and a scholar of color, is especially vulnerable to white supremacist attacks on her credibility, career, privacy, and personal safety. Indeed, as her tenure review approaches, it is all the more crucial for the Vassar community to stand behind her and in support of her vital scholarly work. Vassar’s values of inclusion, academic independence, and its commitment to a more racially just campus all demand a firm position of support for its faculty of color and vocal resistance to hateful behavior.
Updates
October 6, 2017
The emails I keep getting from people who have been following this are just incredible and honestly it makes me think about how much work is actually ahead of us regarding how these spaces operate. I am still trying to coordinate with a few folks who want to help make sure the administration actually feels the weight of all these names on the page so keep checking back here for more soon.
Reached 100 supporters
October 6, 2017
30 Comments
Absolute disgrace that colleagues are acting like this. Keeping my eyes on how the admin handles this, do the right thing Vassar.
Dr. Kim is a consummate professional and a unique scholarly mind. She is the kind of academic that makes any collegiate experience worthwhile. She regularly swallows her personal disgust for bigotry in service of the advancement of knowledge; at no point in her deep critical dives into the lowest forms of society does she bring the suffering home with her to her young family. Every Vassar student and administrator stand with her. May they serve as an example for the values of every thinking person in the free world.
I know Professor Kim and she is good for Vassar. I'm confident that President Bradley and the trustees will do the right thing.
Vassar has a history of supporting social justice endeavors, and it would be a shame to let that history go to waste. Professor Kim's activism is crucial in the era in which we live, and Vassar should support her incredible work.
"Choose a side. Doing nothing is choosing a side. Denial is choosing a side." - Professor Kim
VC '18
VC '20
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We, the undersigned students, alumni/ae, faculty, and staff of Vassar College, wish to communicate our total support for Professor of English and Medieval Literature Dorothy Kim. Professor Kim is an innovative scholar and valued educator on this campus. Because of her work and writing resisting the white supremacist appropriation of Medieval Studies and promoting racial justice in the classroom, she has been subject to unprofessional and racialized attacks from fellow academics and white supremacists alike. We add our voices to the International Piers Plowman Society and the Medieval Academy of Arts when we condemn the racist and anti-scholarly behavior of Dr. Kim’s attackers and confirm our complete support for her and her writings.
Dr. Kim, as both a junior faculty member and a scholar of color, is especially vulnerable to white supremacist attacks on her credibility, career, privacy, and personal safety. Indeed, as her tenure review approaches, it is all the more crucial for the Vassar community to stand behind her and in support of her vital scholarly work. Vassar’s values of inclusion, academic independence, and its commitment to a more racially just campus all demand a firm position of support for its faculty of color and vocal resistance to hateful behavior.
Updates
October 6, 2017
The emails I keep getting from people who have been following this are just incredible and honestly it makes me think about how much work is actually ahead of us regarding how these spaces operate. I am still trying to coordinate with a few folks who want to help make sure the administration actually feels the weight of all these names on the page so keep checking back here for more soon.
Reached 100 supporters
October 6, 2017
30 Comments
This is honestly just heartbreaking to watch. Dorothy is such a brilliant scholar and the way she gets treated is completely unacceptable. Vassar needs to step up and actually protect their faculty.
Absolute disgrace that colleagues are acting like this. Keeping my eyes on how the admin handles this, do the right thing Vassar.
Dr. Kim is a consummate professional and a unique scholarly mind. She is the kind of academic that makes any collegiate experience worthwhile. She regularly swallows her personal disgust for bigotry in service of the advancement of knowledge; at no point in her deep critical dives into the lowest forms of society does she bring the suffering home with her to her young family. Every Vassar student and administrator stand with her. May they serve as an example for the values of every thinking person in the free world.
I know Professor Kim and she is good for Vassar. I'm confident that President Bradley and the trustees will do the right thing.
Vassar has a history of supporting social justice endeavors, and it would be a shame to let that history go to waste. Professor Kim's activism is crucial in the era in which we live, and Vassar should support her incredible work.
"Choose a side. Doing nothing is choosing a side. Denial is choosing a side." - Professor Kim
VC '18
VC '20
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This is honestly just heartbreaking to watch. Dorothy is such a brilliant scholar and the way she gets treated is completely unacceptable. Vassar needs to step up and actually protect their faculty.