The Wesleyan Chapter of the AAUP and the undersigned express our anger and frustration at the University’s response to the alleged actions of John B. Frank, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, who has been accused of sexually inappropriate conduct towards a student worker at the Board’s February 2023 retreat. We identify three related and overlapping failures. First, it is inexcusable to touch a student or student worker in any way that can be construed as an unwelcome violation of their bodies. Second, too many of our students are forced to work as part of their admission package, leading to a scenario in which student workers are asked to serve alcohol to the most powerful people in the institution. This situation is antithetical to the educational mission of the University: students are here to learn, not to subordinate themselves socially to the University’s governors. And third, President Roth’s public minimization of the student’s account and the Board’s refusal to hold John B. Frank responsible represent a moral failure that does not reflect Wesleyan’s values.
We stand in full solidarity with our students and student workers.
Sally Bachner, Associate Professor, English
Dave Constantine, Associate Professor, Math
Matthew Garrett, Associate Professor, English & American Studies
Lori Gruen, Full Professor, Philosophy
Anthony Ryan Hatch, Full Professor, Science in Society Program
Cameron Hill, Associate Professor, Math/CS
Kerwin Kaye, Associate Professor, Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Basak Kus, Associate Professor, Government
Jeffers Lennox, Associate Professor, History
Douglas Martin, Associate Professor, English
Rashida Z. Shaw McMahon, Associate Professor, English
Maaza Mengiste, Full Professor, English
Jill Morawski, Full Professor, Psychology; Science in Society
Ruth Nisse, Full Professor, English
Maria Ospina, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Joel Pfister, Full Professor, English & American Studies
Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Full Professor, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Ulrich Plass, Full Professor, GRST/COL
Christopher Rasmussen, Associate Professor, Mathematics and Computer Science
Anu Sharma, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Anna Shusterman, Full Professor, Psychology & College of Education Studies
Jesse W. Torgerson, Associate Professor, College of Letters
Laura Ann Twagira, Associate Professor, History
Margot Weiss, Associate Professor, American Studies and Anthropology
Carol Wood, Full Professor, Mathematics (Emerita)
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The Wesleyan Chapter of the AAUP can be reached at wesleyanaaup@gmail.com.