Emails, Nora Dolliver, Feb. 18 and Aug. 26, 2016

From: Nora Dolliver

Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 6:27 PM

To: Neuburger, Mary C

Subject: Declining Offer of Admission Due to Campus Carry Guidelines

Dear Dr. Neuburger,

I was admitted to CREEES’ MA program for Fall 2016 and planned to pursue the MA in combination with a degree in Library and Information Science from the School of Information. I am writing to tell you that I will not be accepting my offer of admission due to my misgivings with the campus carry guidelines President Fenves released today. Although I think that UT would be a wonderful place to complete my graduate training, I am unwilling to study or work in an environment where my classmates, professors, students, or patrons are permitted to carry handguns.

I applied to UT despite my reservations regarding S.B. 11 because I hoped that the working group and the president would be able to create a policy that would exclude guns from classrooms, libraries, and other campus facilities. Having read “Campus Carry Policies and Implementation Strategies,” however, I have to conclude that UT cannot guarantee me a gun-free classroom or work environment.

There are two reasons in particular that the campus carry policy would negatively impact my education. First, as a library student, it is crucial that I gain experience working in a campus library before I graduate. In particular, working with the public at a reference or circulation desk will be an essential part of my training. Because I am unwilling to work at a reference desk with the knowledge that any number of my patrons may be permitted to carry handguns, my employment prospects would be severely restricted during my time at UT, which would in turn limit my post-graduate employment prospects.

Second, my primary research interests include Slavic immigration to the United States and Jewish studies. I fear that my work with these topics could leave me, my colleagues, and my professors particularly vulnerable to violence from white supremacist, Neo-Nazi, or anti-immigration groups. Of course, the danger campus carry presents to those in departments such as African and African Diaspora Studies or the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies is even more urgent.

For these reasons, I cannot accept my offer of admission. I will decline it formally on the website, but wanted to write to add my voice to what I imagine will be a sizable group of students who refuse to come to UT because of campus carry. I know your department was vocal about opposing campus carry and wish that things had worked out differently. If there is anyone who is collecting a repository of this sort of letter, please let me know and I will pass along this email to them. Please also withdraw my name from consideration for FLAS awards (I will write to the Center for European Studies separately).

Sincerely,

Nora

On Friday, August 26, 2016, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) <wgselby@statesman.com> wrote:

Is it correct that you declined to attend due to the gun law?

g.

4:08 p.m.

Aug. 26, 2016

Yes, that's correct.