To President Hicks and the Davidson College Board of Trustees,

We, a coalition of Davidson College alumni, are writing to you with concern for the future of this institution that we cherish as a bastion of open inquiry, community engagement and purpose-driven learning. We demand the removal of Leslie Grinage from the Davidson College Board of Trustees for the crisis unfolding at Columbia University and Barnard College. Knowingly and deliberately siding with state actors at the expense of the safety and well-being of students at another institution should disqualify someone from representing the students and alumni of Davidson College.

The ongoing suppression of free speech on college campuses is a disturbing development, as are the hostile rhetoric and punitive funding cuts aimed at institutions of higher learning in the United States. The federal government seems intent on undermining the basic principles of academic freedom, scientific research and human rights – the consequences of which are on full display at Columbia University, with troubling implications for other institutions.

Columbia University has failed to address the abduction and attempted deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student, green card holder and legal permanent resident of the U.S. Worse yet, university leaders have publicly [a]expressed their willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration, acquiescing to dangerous demands at the expense of the safety of their students, faculty and staff.

The concessions, which capitulate to a broader assault on academic freedoms, include instating campus-wide mask bans, authorizing student arrests in classrooms and on-campus housing, and surrendering faculty control over the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) Department, the Center for Palestine Studies, and other academic programs. These actions demonstrate a lack of moral courage and directly conflict with the humane instincts and honor-bound principles that we live by as members of the Davidson community.

While Columbia University’s concessions are not necessarily surprising, we are shocked and troubled that a member of our community is directly involved with the situation on campus. As the Vice President and Dean of Barnard College at Columbia University, Dean Grinage has overseen the suppression and terrorization of students. Her office has subjected students to punishment, expulsion, and physical violence at the hands of the NYPD – all for exercising their first amendment right to protest and peacefully assemble.

Over time, Columbia administrators, like Dean Grinage, laid the groundwork by undermining the values of academic expression and community engagement – and repeatedly brutalizing student protestors for the world to watch. Inviting a militarized police force onto campus to forcefully quell a peaceful protest or detain an undocumented student is completely out of step with Davidson’s shared values.

We fear that Columbia’s decision to collude with the Trump administration and cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sets a dangerous precedent for other institutions of higher education across the U.S. Already, it’s clear the federal government feels emboldened by its successful intervention at Columbia; now they’re targeting other colleges and universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University and numerous other institutions for policies and programs that we consider essential to a well-rounded, liberal arts education.
We are concerned for the stability of the Davidson community, and especially for the safety of international and undocumented students whose legal status may be weaponized against them. As alumni of conscience with a vested interest in our alma mater, we intend to ensure these dystopian realities could never play out at Davidson College.

Due to the actions undertaken in her official capacity as a Vice President and Dean of Barnard College, Leslie Grinage has proven herself unfit to protect Davidson College students from state-sponsored violence and to champion intellectual bravery in the face of authoritarianism. Her presence on the Board of Trustees is an embarrassment and a detriment to the students, faculty, alumni and greater community of Davidson College.

We, the undersigned, pledge to withhold all financial support of Davidson College until Leslie Grinage is removed from the Board of Trustees. We intend to hold our alma mater accountable through financial and public pressures to ensure that Davidson acts boldly in defense of empathy, intellectual bravery, diversity and inclusion, and most of all, student safety – a sentiment ingrained in the Davidson College mission statement – by cutting all ties with one of the architects of the national student repression movement.

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Note: This petition was developed and is being distributed by a coalition of likeminded alumni and students, with no specific group affiliation. All are welcome to use the language of this letter and the creative assets to share their own thoughts and opinions.