January 18, 2018
To:
Robert Zimmer, President
Daniel Diermeier, Provost
The University of Chicago
Dear President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier,
As faculty and others representing the breadth of the University’s intellectual community and committed to critical and rigorous intellectual exchange, we are deeply concerned that Stephen Bannon, the founding member and executive chairman of the board of Breitbart News and former Chief Strategist to President Donald J. Trump, has been invited to speak at the University of Chicago. Bannon traffics in hate speech, promoting white supremacist ideologies meant to demean and dehumanize those most marginalized, often people of color. His presence on campus sends a chilling message not only to students, staff and faculty at the University, but also to the young people who attend the University of Chicago Charter School and Laboratory School and to the primarily black neighbors who surround the university. Specifically, when speakers who question the intellect and full humanity of people of color are invited to campus to “debate” their worthiness as citizens and people, the message is clear that the University’s commitment to freedom of expression will come at the expense of those most vulnerable in our community. We, therefore, believe that having Bannon on campus stands in fundamental opposition to the diverse and inclusive community the University professes to want to build.
Over the past couple of years, the University has made clear its commitment to free speech and has positioned itself as a national leader in defending freedom of expression. As academics, we understand that our work is only possible in a context where intellectual inquiry is afforded the space and freedom to push the boundaries of knowledge. At the same time, we believe that our mission of setting global standards for excellence in research and teaching is only possible in an environment where every member of our community is valued and hate speech that is meant to undermine their full participation is not tolerated.
The defense of freedom of expression cannot be taken to mean that white supremacy, anti-semitism, misogyny, homophobia, anti-Catholicism, and islamophobia must be afforded the rights and opportunity to be aired on a university campus. Bannon’s positions as articulated in Breitbart News and the policies he helped to promote during his tenure at the White House do not open opportunities for debate and exchange; they diminish such opportunities. These positions represent neither reasonable speech nor evidence-based and rigorous intellectual inquiry. He is cited as the most consequential proponent of a recent ban on immigration, which is currently embroiled in legal challenges for its discriminatory targeting of majority Muslim countries. He has unabashedly advocated for more general restrictions of historically legal forms of immigration, in ways inconsistent with generally accepted ideals of openness embraced here on campus. Moreover, he is a founding board member of and, until very recently, had been an executive at the media company Breitbart, espousing the most detestable facets of the so-called “alt-right” movement, including a blatantly racist “news” section explicitly devoted to associating black people with crime.
Our decisions about who we provide access and opportunity to speak on campus cannot be separated from the our country’s extensive historical legacies of oppression and inequality in which the University of Chicago is deeply embedded. In the current social and political climate of the country--in which the rights and safety of immigrant, black, Muslim, and LGBTQ communities are routinely threatened--the hate speech represented in Bannon's body of work are not the insignificant musings of a fringe political group, but rather the governing philosophy of the chief executive and a newly emboldened political movement based on white supremacy and religious intolerance. Rather than normalizing hate speech by granting it a privileged forum, the university should model inclusion for a country that is reeling from the consequences of racism, xenophobia, and hate.
As a University we must do the difficult work of collectively judging how we enact our espoused principles and adjudicating between principles that point us in different directions. We believe that Bannon should not be afforded the platform and opportunity to air his hate speech on this campus. Moreover, we believe his presence will have deleterious consequences on our ability to build a diverse and inclusive intellectual community--a principle that is also central to the University’s mission.
If you are a faculty member at the University of Chicago and would like to add your signature to this letter, please send an email to nobannonatuchicago@gmail.com. Please use your university email so we can confirm your identity, and include your title and affiliation. Signatures will be added daily.
Signed (in alphabetical order),
Abena Appah-Sampong, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Leora Auslander, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor of Western Civilization, History
Jessica Baker, Assistant Professor, Music
Meghanne M. Barker, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
Lauren Berlant, George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor, English Language & Literature
Diana Bouhassira, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Alida Bouris, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Matthew Boyle, Professor, Philosophy
Larissa Brewer-García, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages & Literature
Matthew M. Briones, Associate Professor, History
Evelyn Z. Brodkin, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Seth Brodsky, Associate Professor, Music
Adrienne Brown, Associate Professor, English Language & Literature
Christopher J. Bryan, Assistant Professor, Booth School of Business
Adrian Camarena, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Elam Coalson, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Yoonsun Choi, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Cathy Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Professor, Political Science
Rachel Cohen, Professor of Practice in the Arts, Creative Writing, English Department
Joshua Craze, Harper Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor, The College
Jessica H. Darrow, Lecturer, Director of Global Social Development Practice Programs, School of Social Service Administration
Shannon Lee Dawdy, Professor, Anthropology
Michael C. Dawson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor, Political Science
Jeffrey Dewey, PhD Candidate, Chemistty
Claire Dugan, MS3, Pritzker School of Medicine
Kaitlin Ellis, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Darby English, Professor, Art History
Matt Epperson, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Seth Estrin, Assistant Professor, Art History
Eve L. Ewing, Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholar, School of Social Service Administration
Gina Fedock, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Lauren Feldman, Lecturer, School of Social Service Administration
Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Ayelet Fishbach, Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing, Booth School of Business
Matthew Fowler, Postdoctoral Scholar, Political Science
Michele Friedner, Assistant Professor, Comparative Human Development
Craig B. Futterman, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
Angela S. García, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Sarah Garcia-Ricketts, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Adom Getachew, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Yanilda Gonzalez, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Elaine Hadley, Professor, English Language & Literature
John S. Hawkins, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Sharon Heichman, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Faith Hillis, Associate Professor, History
Denis Hirschfeldt, Professor, Mathematics
Kimberly Kay Hoang, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Thomas C. Holt, James Westfall Thompson Distinguished Professor, History
Scott J. Hunter, Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience and Pediatrics
Travis A. Jackson, Associate Professor, Music
Destin Jenkins, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, History
Ryan Cecil Jobson, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Anthropology
Waldo E. Johnson, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Damon Jones, Associate Professor, Harris School of Public Policy
Hakan Karateke, Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Micere Keels, Associate Professor, Comparative Human Development
Beverly Kyalwazi, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Natacha Nsabimana, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences Division
Natalia Neha Khosla, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Lauren Kruger, Professor, English Language & Literature, Comparative Literature, African Studies, TAPS
Susan Lambert, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Gena Lenti, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Jeff Leslie, Clinical Professor of Law, Law School
Darryl Li, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Tracey Lockaby, Associate Researcher, Chapin Hall
Hoyt Long, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Michael Marcangelo, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
Miguel Martínez, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Romance Languages and Literatures
Vladimir E. Medenica, Postdoctoral Scholar, Political Science
Reuben Jonathan Miller, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Benjamin Morgan, Associate Professor, English Language & Literature
Camille Morgan, Program Coordinator, Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture
Daniel Morgan, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies
Anna S. Mueller, Assistant Professor, Comparative Human Development
Salikoko S. Mufwene, Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor, Linguistics
Matam P. Murthy, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
John H. Muse, Assistant Professor, English Language & Literature
Sianne Ngai, Professor, English
Dolores “Dodie” Norton, Samuel Deutsch Professor Emerita, School of Social Service Administration
Lola Oladini, MD/MBA Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine and Booth School of Business
Leonie Oostrom, MS2, Pritzker School of Medicine
Julie Orlemanski, Assistant Professor, English Language & Literature
Mikhail Pakvasa, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Stephan Palmié, Professor, Anthropology
Jamila Picart, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
Jennifer Pitts, Associate Professor, Political Science
Srikanth Reddy, Associate Professor, English
François Richard, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Jane Risen, Professor of Behavioral Science, Booth School of Business
Shantá R. Robinson, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology
Na'ama Rokem, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature
Danielle Roper, Provost's Postdoctoral Scholar, Romance Languages & Literature
Ingrid Sagor, Department Administrator, Comparative Literature and Germanic Studies
Zach Samalin, Assistant Professor, English Language & Literature
Gina M. Samuels, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Julie Saville, Associate Professor Emerita, History
Jennifer Scappettone, Associate Professor, English, Creative Writing, and Romance Languages & Literatures
Kristen Schilt, Associate Professor, Sociology
Connie Shao, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
A. Holly Shissler, Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Olga Sinyavskaya, MD Candidate, Pritzker School of Medicine
William Sites, Associate Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Borja Sotomayor, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science
Margaret Beale Spencer, Professor, Comparative Human Development
Jamie Staudt MD Candidate 2018 Pritzker School of Medicine
Hilary Strang, Lecturer, English Language & Literature
Forrest Stuart, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Christopher Taylor, Assistant Professor, English Language & Literature
Sonali Thakkar, Assistant Professor, English Language & Literature
Anna Elena Torres, Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow, Comparative Literature
Oleg Urminsky, Professor of Marketing, Booth School of Business
Monica Vela, Professor and Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs, Pritzker School of Medicine
Dexter Voisin, Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Lisa Wedeen, Mary R. Morton Professor, Political Science
Tyler Williams, Assistant Professor, South Asian Languages & Civilizations
James Lindley Wilson, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Miwa Yasui, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Marci Ybarra, Assistant Professor, School of Social Service Administration
Tara Zahra, Professor, History
Faridah Zaman, Donnelley Postdoctoral Scholar, History
Lawrence Zbikowski, Professor, Music