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The Ohio State University
Members of the Department of English (and Friends)
164 Annie and John Glenn Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
November 20, 2019
Dear Members of Syracuse University’s Administration and Board of Trustees:
We, the undersigned, have learned that Genevieve García de Müeller, an assistant professor of Writing and Rhetoric and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at Syracuse University (SU), was targeted this week at work—via her work email—with hateful, anti-semitic speech. We are also aware that what has happened to Dr. García de Müeller is but one incident among a number of racist and anti-semitic incidents happening at SU. We write this statement as an expression of solidarity with Dr. García de Müeller and the broader campus community. We, too, stand against hate in our hallways, campus classrooms, and any other place where members of our communities feel threatened, alienated or excluded.
With members of SU’s Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition, we also write to encourage SU to release a statement in support of Dr. García de Müeller. Specifically, we echo our colleagues’ argument that in such a statement, SU must
- acknowledge what has happened to Dr. García de Müeller and to other members of the campus community;
- describe what they will do to fight this kind of hate speech and violence; and
- articulate their support for their colleagues’, students’, and staff’s safety.
As The Ohio State University Department of English is also grappling with how best to respond to hate speech posted in our hallways, we understand that now—this very moment—is both the time and place to live up to our institutions’ self-professed values. We find Syracuse University’s lack of a public response troubling. We are hopeful that Syracuse University will model ethical leadership by standing against hate-speech, even if such a stance engenders a PR quagmire.
In solidarity,
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