TO THE EDITOR:
Dear Carol, Step down.
Step down because your students had to scramble together within a week to prepare themselves for the arrival of anti-black, xenophobic terrorists to our campus.
Step down because students and staff had to assemble themselves into health and safety teams to protect themselves from the potential of racist attacks and harassment.
Step down because we had to wait for days in fear and anxiety only to receive a half-hearted email that reduced white supremacist threats down to a “debate.”
Step down because I had to send at least 50 emails pleading for student organizations, state associations and nonprofits to fight back against neo-Confederates because your administration, the Department of Public Safety and local police either ignored or abandoned us.
Step down because you chose respectability and neutrality over the well-being and livelihood of black and brown students.
Step down because you allowed outsiders who live in a completely different county to congregate on your campus and be escorted by officers who were more concerned about protecting Silent Sam than protecting students from extremists.
Step down because you have exploited the labor of the black women and black femmes who built (and continue to build) your university, your town, your state and your country.
