Christoph MergersonOn Friday, faculty at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland issued an open letter in support of Dr. Kathleen McElroy and principles of equity and inclusion in democracy. To add your name publicly to this letter, please send an email to journalism AT umd DOT edu with the subject line "open letter signature" with your name, title and affiliation.
If you’re unaware, Dr. McElroy was offered a tenured contract to revive the journalism program at Texas A&M University, her alma mater, but this was soon reduced to a one-year untenured position. The university downgraded the terms of her job offer after objections were raised to her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is unacceptable. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/11/texas-a-m-kathleen-mcelroy-journalism/
Texas A&M recruited a UT professor to revive its journalism program, then backtracked after “DEI hysteria”
The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program. She says she’s staying at UT after she felt judged because of her race and gender.
Shobha S VThe President of Texas A&M resigned last week in the midst of this controversy and the fallout continues. Our letter calls on like-minded journalism educators and practitioners—and the public—to join us in reaffirming and defending values of equity and inclusion in journalism and education.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/21/banks-tamu-journalism-hire/
By the way, if you’re not a journalist or journalism educator, you’re still welcome to sign our letter in support of these principles! Let us know what title and affiliation, if any, you’d like us to use with your signature.
Jon (now at neuromatch.social)@mergerson Done -- and thanks for doing this! If you're adding titles and affiliations, I'm Jonathan Pincus, Chief Technology Officer at The Nexus of Privacy