Letters to the Editor Regarding Sexual Assault

A group of faculty has written the following letter to the students of Amherst College. For the full list of the 14 authors and 128 signatories, see below.

We are deeply saddened and upset by the recent disclosures of sexual misconduct and violence at the College. It is not only that acts of sexual violence have occurred that troubles us. It is the further injuries that students have suffered after these acts that also concern us.

We are writing to express our deep support for all who have been affected by this in any way. We are also troubled that the College has failed you.

We are committed to working towards effective solutions to the many problems that you have faced and continue to face. We call for an end to the culture of silence. None of us can function in an environment of mistrust and fear. Trust and respect are essential for teaching and learning. We are teachers, and as teachers we realize we have much to learn from our students. We urge any and all of you to come talk with us — as a college, we can only find our way through this together.

We are committed, in the coming months and years, to building a climate of safety, respect and ultimately, trust. We know we have much work to do to make Amherst the college that it should be, a place of mutual respect and trust.

We realize that nothing can change the past. But as we face the future, know that we stand with you and we will come through this together.

Jessica Reyes
Tom Dumm
Christian Rogowski
Paola Zamperini
Deborah Gewertz
Jagu Jaganathan
Luca Grillo
David Schneider
Jason Robinson
Boris Wolfson
David Hall
Jeffers Engelhardt
Beth Yarbrough
Catherine Epstein

Lyle A. McGeoch
Krupa Shandilya
Ethan Graf
Joseph Moore
Victoria Maillo
Joseph Kushick
Ilan Stavans
David Hanneke
Ronald Bashford
Judith Frank
Wako Tawa
Heidi Gilpin
Jessica McCutcheon
Chick Chickering
Scott Kaplan
Amelie Hastie
Jonathan Friedman
Chris Kingston
Betsey Garand
Nusrat Chowdhury
Sara Brenneis
Wendy Woodson
Karen Sanchez-Eppler
Andrew Johnston
Adam Honig
Javier Corrales
Kristin Bumiller
Christopher Grobe
Ethan Clotfelter
Hannah Holleman
Chris van den Berg
Lucía M. Suárez
Daniel Koltonski
Carol Keller
Lisa Raskin
Sergey Glebov
Andrew Poe
Nicola Courtright
Julia McQuade
Ronald C. Rosbottom
Jay Caplan
Susan Niditch
Robert Doran
Catherine Ciepiela
Sean Redding
Natasha Staller
Alicia Christoff
Jerome Himmelstein
Dwaipayan Sen
J. Celso Castro Alves
Margaret Hunt
Klara Moricz
Jill Miller
Alix Purdy
Chris Dole
Mohamed Hassan
Kiara M. Vigil
Colleen Woods
Trent Maxey
Barry O’Connell
Sujani Reddy
Michael Ching
Ted Melillo
Jonathan Vogel
Daniel Hall
Caroline Goutte
Dominic Poccia
Maria Heim
Anna Martini
Rick Lopez
Ellen Boucher
Austin Sarat
Vanessa Fong
Amy Wagaman
Nasser Hussain
David Cox
Sheila Jaswal
Hilary Moss
Karin Boxer
Rob Benedetto
Jenny Kallick
Leah Hewitt
Rosalina de la Carrera
Patrick Williamson
Hugh Hawkins
Pavel Machala
Eric Sawyer
Robert Sweeney
Jan Dizard
Ron Lembo
Samuel C. Morse
Laure Katsaros
Ingrid Nelson
Martha Saxton
Dale Peterson
Carol Clark
Ute Brandes
M. Elena Aldea Agudo
Justin Kimball
Shu-Min Liao
Anston Bosman
Martha Umphrey
Ashley Carter
Sandra Burkett
Dan Velleman
William Loinaz
Tim Van Compernolle
Francis G. Couvares
Daniel Barbezat
Saaid Mendoza
Lisa Brooks
Elizabeth Aries
Tekla Harms
Josef Trapani
John Rager
Walter Nicholson
Michele Barale
Ethan J. Temeles
Stanley Rabinowitz
Amrita Basu
John-Paul Baird
Jun Ishii
Amy Demorest
Patricia O’Hara
Rhonda Cobham-Sander