President Burstein signs joint letter to President-elect Trump calling for end to acts of hate, harassment

A Head shot of Lawrence University President Mark Burstein.
Lawrence President Mark Burstein

Lawrence University President Mark Burstein has joined 109 of his colleagues in signing an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across the country.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 430 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation were reported in the first five days following the election, with 67 of those occurring on college and university campuses and another 99 happening in K–12 schools.

The letter calls for a reaffirmation of the nation’s core values of democracy: human decency, equal rights, freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination.

Burstein was one of only two college/university presidents in Wisconsin to sign the letter. Liberal arts college presidents represent the majority of the letter signers, while seven presidents lead historically black colleges. The signers include the president of one Canadian university.

Two other signers have ties to Lawrence. Macalester President Brian Rosenberg served as dean of the faculty at Lawrence from 1998-2003 and James Gandre, president of Manhattan School of Music, is a 1981 Lawrence graduate.

The letter and its signers follows.

Dear President-elect Trump,

As do you, we “seek common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict.” In order to maintain the trust required for such productive engagement, it is essential that we immediately reaffirm the core values of our democratic nation: human decency, equal rights, freedom of expression, and freedom from discrimination. As college and university presidents, we commit ourselves to promoting these values on our campuses and in our communities, and we stand alongside the business, nonprofit, religious, and civic leaders who are doing the same in organizations large and small.

In light of your pledge to be “President for all Americans,” we urge you to condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate, and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across our nation, sometimes in your name which is now synonymous with our nation’s highest office. In our schools, on job sites and college campuses, on public streets and in coffee shops, members of our communities, our children, our families, our neighbors, our students, and our employees are facing very real threats, and are frightened.

One of the roles of leaders is to protect and empower the most vulnerable. As President-elect, this responsibility rests heavily on you. Let this be a mark of your leadership.

Raymond E. Crossman
President
Adler UniversityMauri Ditzler
President
Albion CollegeMark Zupan
President
Alfred UniversityJeff Abernathy
President
Alma College

Biddy Martin
President
Amherst College

William R. Groves
Chancellor
Antioch University

John M Sullivan
President
Art Academy of Cincinnati

Paul C. Pribbenow
President
Augsburg College

Steven Bahls
President
Augustana College

Marjorie Hass
President
Austin College

Leon Botstein
President
Bard College

Mac Powell
President
Bastyr University

Scott Bierman
President
Beloit College

Mariko Silver
President
Bennington College

David C. Joyce
President
Brevard College

Kimberly Wright Cassidy
President
Bryn Mawr College

Nancy Blattner
President
Caldwell University

Donald J. Laackman
President
Champlain College

Frank G. Pogue
Interim President
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

David McInally
President
Coe College

Brian W. Casey
President
Colgate University

Helen J. Streubert
President
College of Saint Elizabeth

Philip L. Boroughs, S.J.
President
College of the Holy Cross

Jonathan Brand
President
Cornell College

Jann Weitzel
President
Cottey College

Carol Quillen
President
Davidson College

Mark McCoy
President
DePauw University

Walter M. Kimbrough
President
Dillard University

MaryAnn Baenninger
President
Drew University

Donald Eastman
President
Eckerd College

Carl J Strikwerda
President
Elizabethtown College

Jake B. Schrum
President
Emory & Henry College

James A. Anderson
Chancellor & Professor of Psychology
Fayetteville State University

Michael Pressimone
President
Fontbonne University

Daniel Porterfield
President
Franklin & Marshall College

Elizabeth Davis
President
Furman University

Janet Morgan Riggs
President
Gettysburg College

Robert Kenny
President
Goddard College

Mark Scheinberg
President
Goodwin College

Jose Antonio Bowen
President
Goucher College

Raynard S. Kington
President
Grinnell College

Jane K. Fernandes
President
Guilford College

Rebecca M. Bergman
President
Gustavus Adolphus College

John J. “Ski” Sygielski
President
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College

Margaret L. Drugovich
President
Hartwick College

Kimberly Benston
President
Haverford College

Lori Varlotta
President
Hiram College

Mark D. Gearan
President
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Andrea Chapdelaine
President
Hood College

Shirley A. Mullen
President
Houghton College

Lisa A. Rossbacher
President
Humboldt State University

Alison Byerly
President
Lafayette College

Dan McAlexander
President
LaGrange College

Michael B. Alexander
President
Lasell College

Mark Burstein
President
Lawrence University

Barry Glassner
President
Lewis & Clark CollegeRichard Green
President
Lincoln University, PennsylvaniaBrian F. Linnane, S.J.
President
Loyola University MarylandKenneth R. Garren
President
Lynchburg College

Brian Rosenberg
President
Macalester College

Stuart Kestenbaum
President
Maine College of Art

James Gandre
President
Manhattan School of Music

Kevin F. F. Quigley
President
Marlboro College

Kerry Walk
President
Marymount Manhattan College

Laurie Patton
President
Middlebury College

Bryon Grigsby
President
Moravian College

John Silvanus Wilson, Jr.
President
Morehouse College

David Wilson
President
Morgan State University

Stanley J. Pritchett, Sr.
President
Morris Brown College

Sonya Stephens
Acting President
Mount Holyoke College

Timothy E. Trainor
President
Mount St. Mary’s University

John I. Williams, Jr.
President
Muhlenberg College

Kent Devereaux
President
New Hampshire Institute of Art

Richard Helldobler
Interim President
Northeastern Illinois University

Lawrence Schall
President
Oglethorpe University

David W. Oxtoby
President
Pomona College

Debbie Sydow
President
Richard Bland College

Allan Cahoon
President and Vice Chancellor
Royal Roads University

Rachel Schreiber
Interim President
San Francisco Art Institute

Karen R. Lawrence
President
Sarah Lawrence College

Tracy Fitzsimmons
President
Shenandoah University

Susan E. Henking
President
Shimer College

Peg Albert
President
Siena Heights University

Joe Bertolino
President
Southern Connecticut State University

David Rees Evans
President
Southern Vermont College

Edward B. Burger
President
Southwestern University

John A. Pieper
President
St. Louis College of Pharmacy

Kevin J. Manning
President
Stevenson University

Valerie Smith
President
Swarthmore College

Susan C. Scrimshaw
President
The Sage Colleges

John M. McCardell, Jr.
Vice-Chancellor and President
The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee

Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President
Trinity College (Hartford)

Stephen C. Ainlay
President
Union College

Thomas W. Keefe
President
University of Dallas

Quint Thurman
President
University of the Southwest

Jonathan Chenette
President
Vassar College

Thomas Christopher Greene
President
Vermont College of Fine Arts

Scott D. Miller
President
Virginia Wesleyan College

Tori Haring-Smith
President
Washington & Jefferson College

Weymouth Spence
President
Washington Adventist University

Joseph Kline
President
Watkins College

Jonathan Gibralter
President
Wells College

Michael S. Roth
President
Wesleyan University

Dennis Hanno
President
Wheaton College (Massachusetts)

David J. Chard
President
Wheelock College

Sharon Herzberger
President
Whittier College

Stephen E. Thorsett
President
Willamette University

Elizabeth MacLeod Walls
President
William Jewell College

Adam Falk
President
Williams College

Barbara K. Mistick
President
Wilson College

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.”  Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.