Philip Gasper, Ph.D.
Dear Dr. McMorris:
I am writing to protest your University administration’s decision to bring charges against students who participated in a walkout on November 2.
University campuses should be places where free speech and the right to demonstrate are given the broadest possible protection. Instead, Hampton University seems to be operating on the basis of policies borrowed from Stalinist Russia.
Students should not need permission to engage in political protest or to post flyers. They should not be booked by the campus police for having political slogans on their clothing or for looking “suspicious”. And they certainly should not be threatened with expulsion.
I am utterly appalled by the way in which your administration has behaved. You are attacking fundamental rights that should belong to everyone on your campus.
If you wish to avoid permanently tarnishing your institutions reputation, I urge you to drop all charges, cancel the hearings and alter your repressive policies immediately.
Sincerely,
Philip Gasper, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA 94002