Editor’s note: this following piece has been lightly edited for adherence to the Associated Press stylebook.
We, the undersigned faculty members of Mount Holyoke College, join our colleagues from other institutions of higher education to call on college and university leaders to take a stand against state-sanctioned systematic violence against Palestinians. We call on President Danielle R. Holley to urge legislators to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
We echo and expand on the calls from the United Nations Secretary-General and the Principles from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to bring an end to the relentless and extensive violence being unleashed on Palestinian people that has resulted in over 10,000 deaths. We demand that full access to food, water, electricity, medicine and fuel be provided to the Gaza Strip, as well as access to humanitarian aid and U.N. protection. We regard the call for a ceasefire as a bare minimum — a reflection of our linked humanity that is not ideological and should not be politicized.
We also acknowledge that lasting peace and security in the region can only be established by condemning Israeli state operations that are defined by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem as apartheid. We are alarmed by the dehumanizing rhetoric of Israeli government officials, who have openly advocated for the collective punishment of the Palestinian population — a war crime, according to international humanitarian law. We call on the U.S. government to stop using our taxes to provide the Israeli state with billions of dollars of unconditional military aid, enabling what scholars and experts alarmingly describe as genocide.
We support and join our students’ call on the Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees to divest from companies or other investments that support the Israeli military. We request transparency and confirmation of a College plan for divestment. Our faculty commitment to educating students includes our responsibility to call for an end to unchecked state violence and to end the College’s financial support of these efforts.
Lastly, we call on President Holley to reaffirm her commitment to protecting academic freedom and free speech for (especially untenured and contingent) faculty, students and staff. It is crucial to affirm that critiquing the state of Israel or advocating for Palestinian liberation is not equal to antisemitism. Such a political conflation of all Jewish people with Israel's state policies ignores the longstanding social justice organizing of Jewish solidarity with Palestinians and diverts attention away from actual antisemitism on the rise. President Holley’s support is especially important given that Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish and allied communities who are speaking for Palestinian liberation are experiencing extraordinary levels of doxxing, harassment, intimidation, racial targeting, censorship and firing.
Mount Holyoke stood with the oppressed of South Africa during the apartheid regime and can do so again by leading a chorus of institutions of higher education in demanding a ceasefire and upholding Palestinian humanity.
Signatories
(names will be added manually, as they come in)
1. Iyko Day, English and Critical Race and Political Economy
2. lucas b wilson, Economics and Critical Race and Political Economy 3. Justin Crumbaugh, Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies 4. Ajay Sinha, Art History and Architectural Studies
5. Renae Brodie, Biology
6. Andrea Lawlor, English
7. Vanessa Rosa, Critical Race and Political Economy
8. Elif Babül, Sociology and Anthropology
9. Alanna Hoyer-Leitzel, Mathematics and Statistics
10. Corey Flanders, Psychology and Education
11. Serin Houston, Geology and Geography
12. David Hernandez, Critical Race and Political Economy
13. Amina Steinfels, Religion
14. Wesley Yu, English
15. Lisa Iglesias, Art Studio
16. Mara Breen, Psychology & Education
17. Angela Willey, Gender Studies
18. Matthew C. Watson, Sociology and Anthropology
19. Ren-yo Hwang, Gender Studies and Critical Race and Political Economy
20. Sarah Stefana Smith, Gender Studies and Critical Race and Political Economy 21. Kate Singer, English and Critical Race and Political Economy
22. Anna Maria Hong, English
23. T Kira Māhealani Madden, English
24. Abhilash Medhi, History
25. Niamh Timmons, Gender Studies
26. Anonymous Visiting Faculty
27. Lauret E. Savoy, Environmental Studies
28. Mark Shea, English
29. Mary Renda, History
30. Christian Gundermann, Gender Studies
31. Nigel Alderman, English
32. Lynda Pickbourn, Gender Studies
33. Kevin Surprise, Environmental Studies
34. KC Haydon, Psychology and Education
35. Travis Hodges, Psychology and Education
36. Amy Martin, English
37. Sandra Russell, Gender Studies
38. Jacquelyne Luce, Gender Studies
39. Donald Cotter, Chemistry
40. Jackson Matos, Psychology and Education
41. Preston Smith, Politics
42. Adriana Pitetta, Spanish, Latina/o & Latin American Studies Department 43. Ayca Zayim, Sociology
44. Sylvia Cifuentes, Environmental Studies
45. Hannah Goodwin, Film and Media Studies
46. Cora Fernandez Anderson, Politics
47. Elliot Montague, Film Media Theater
48. Anonymous Visiting Faculty
49. Esther Castro, Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies
50. Ali Aslam, Politics
51. Anonymous Untenured Faculty Member 52. Carolyn Shread, French
53. Anonymous untenured faculty member 54. Ligia Bouton, Art Studio
55. John Tawa, Psychology & Education
56. Kris Camp, Fimble Lab
57. Anonymous Untenured Faculty Member 58. Anonymous Visiting Faculty Member
59. Meredith Coleman-Tobias, Religion
60. Anonymous Faculty Member
61. Bianka Ballina, Film Media Theater
62. Michelle Markley, Geology
63. Naomi Darling, Art History and Architectural Studies 64. Chassidy Bozeman, Mathematics
65. Derek Young, Mathematics
66. Audrey St. John, Computer Science
67. Kerstin Nordstrom, Physics
68. Justin Bauman, Biological Sciences
69. Craig Woodard, Biological Sciences
70. Anonymous Visiting Faculty Member
71. Anonymous Visiting Faculty Member
72. Lisa Ballesteros, Computer Science
73. Samantha Leonard, Sociology and Anthropology 74. Catherine Le Gouis, French
75. Rick Feldman, Economics and Entrepreneurship, Organizations, and Society 76. Amy Frary, Biological Sciences
77. Anonymous Visiting Faculty Member
78. Anonymous Non-Tenure Track Faculty Member
79. Anouk Alquier, French