Update on Campus Agreements

October 10, 2024

Dear all,

I am writing to update about the progress on agreements we came to together as a campus last spring. These are remarks I made this week at the administrative and staff forums and the faculty meeting, and I thought it would be helpful to distribute them to our full community. I am thankful to students, faculty, administrators, staff, and alums who have voiced their concerns and to all who have been working together to ensure we keep our commitments to our agreements and that we continue to communicate in ways that maintain our effective working relationships.

Here are updates:

First, in May, four students advocating for Vassar’s endowment divestment from military and surveillance companies were invited to meet with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Board listened carefully and appreciated the students’ presentation.

Second, during the summer, we raised the funds to sponsor two college students from Gaza to become students at Vassar, as colleges and universities have been destroyed in Gaza. One of these students has begun at Vassar while the second is unable to leave Gaza. We have been working with Senator Schumer’s office to advocate for the second student to be able to come to New York. Meanwhile, I am in regular contact with this student in Gaza and hope travel may be possible in the future.

Third, as educators, we agreed to invest in curricular innovations pertaining to Peace and Conflict and/or Middle East Studies. To assist with discussions with students and faculty about such curricular innovation, Dean Daly has engaged Prof Sa’ed Atshan, who directs Peace and Conflict at Swarthmore. In addition, Dean Daly continues to convene faculty and students to discuss inclusive approaches to curricula pertaining to Israel, Palestine, and the broader Middle East.

Fourth, we agreed to support students in fundraising for relief efforts in Gaza if students wanted such support, as we have supported other student groups’ fundraising efforts.

Fifth, we supported students channeling their proposal through CIRC (Campus Investor Responsibility Committee) as per the Governance; CIRC is the body through which proposals about divestment can be submitted to TIRC (Trustee Investment Responsibility Committee) of the Board. TIRC will then review the proposal and make a decision about a recommendation to the full Board. Students submitted their divestment proposal to CIRC in May; CIRC took the summer to review the proposal, and voted in mid-September to forward the proposal to TIRC. At the October Board meeting, TIRC will meet with CIRC to hear the rationale for their decision and ask questions. Two students representing those advocating for divestment have been invited to join that meeting. I believe TIRC will then spend time analyzing the proposal and will likely make a recommendation to the full Board in February. I am aware this process has taken longer than some desired; however, the time reflects the importance of a deliberate process, which follows the Governance, and reflects engagement of differing voices coming to agreement.

Sixth, we have ensured student-facing administrators, student leadership, the senior leadership team, and faculty have or will this semester have undergone training on antisemitism and Islamophobia. We have improved and provided greater clarity on the reporting processes for discriminatory harassment, and have updated and enhanced the College’s nondiscrimination policy for providing supportive measures, investigating and resolving complaints. Whenever the College receives a report alleging discrimination or discriminatory harassment, it will assess whether the reported speech or conduct has created or contributed to a hostile environment and take any necessary corrective measures.

We also introduced a new Social Identity Harm (SIH) Reporting Process to replace the former Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT). This new process is designed to more effectively address and respond to incidents of harm related to social identity while ensuring everyone’s rights are respected. Importantly, this process also helps identify and provide meaningful support structures students might need.

Last, to keep the community updated on activities pertaining to issues of discriminatory harassment, we will update the Condemning Discriminatory Harassment website periodically.

I will end with a note of appreciation. When the world is so full of violence, I remain grateful that we can continue to work together, talk through disagreements, and advance toward collective goals.

Best wishes for the fall break,

Elizabeth H. Bradley, President
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
@EHBVassar