Presidents' Letter to President-Elect Trump

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.

Signatures (200)

Last update: 06/26/17, noon EST
 

Raymond E. Crossman, President, Adler University

Elizabeth Kiss, President, Agnes Scott College

Mauri Ditzler, President, Albion College

Lex O. McMillan III, President, Albright College

Mark Zupan, President, Alfred University

Jeff Abernathy, President, Alma College

Neil Kerwin, President, American University

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

Debora L. Spar, President, Barnard College

Mac Powell, President, Bastyr University 

Clayton Spencer, President, Bates College

Scott Bierman, President, Beloit College

Mariko Silver, President, Bennington College

Lyle D. Roelofs, President, Berea College

Harvey G. Stenger, Jr., President, Binghamton University

Clayton S. Rose, President, Bowdoin College

David C. Joyce, President, Brevard College

Michelle J. Anderson, President, Brooklyn College

Kimberly Wright Cassidy, President, Bryn Mawr College

John Bravman, President, Bucknell University

Nancy Blattner, President, Caldwell University

Chris Kimball, President, California Lutheran University

Elizabeth Paul, President, Capital University

Donald J. Laackman, President, Champlain College

Frank G. Pogue, Interim President, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

Alice Hunt, President, Chicago Theological Seminary

David Angel, President, Clark University

Elaine J. Copeland, President, Clinton College 

David McInally, President, Coe College

Susan D. Stuebner, President, Colby-Sawyer 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

Charlene Newkirk, South Campus President, Community College of Allegheny County

Katherine Bergeron, President, Connecticut College

Jonathan Brand, President, Cornell College

Jann Weitzel, President, Cottey College

Carol Quillen, President, Davidson College

Harry Lee Williams, President, Delaware State University 

Adam Weinberg, President, Denison University

Mark McCoy, President, DePauw University

Neil Weissman, Interim President, Dickinson College

Walter M. Kimbrough, President, Dillard University

MaryAnn Baenninger, President, Drew University

David Dawson, President, Earlham College

Donald Eastman, President, Eckerd College

Carl J Strikwerda, President, Elizabethtown College 

Jake B. Schrum, President, Emory & Henry College

Geoffrey Nagle, President, Erikson Institute

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

Jody Spooner, President, Ferrum College

Roslyn Clark Artis, President, Florida Memorial University

J. Michael Pressimone, President, Fontbonne University

Daniel Porterfield, President, Franklin & Marshall College

Kim Mooney, President, Franklin Pierce University

Ronald Nowaczyk, President, Frostburg State University

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

Mark Rubinstein, President, Granite State 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

Fayneese Miller, President, Hamline University

Margaret L. Drugovich, President, Hartwick College

Kimberly Benston, President, Haverford College

Aaron Panken, President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Lori Varlotta, President, Hiram College

Mark D. Gearan, President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Stuart Rabinowitz, President, Hofstra University

Nancy O. Gray, President, Hollins University

Andrea Chapdelaine, President, Hood College

John C. Knapp, President, Hope College

Shirley A. Mullen, President, Houghton College

Lisa A. Rossbacher, President, Humboldt State University

Thomas R. Rochon, President, Ithaca College

James Troha, President, Juniata College

Jorge G. Gonzalez, President, Kalamazoo College

Anne E. Huot, President, Keene State College

Sean Decatur, President, Kenyon College

Teresa Amott, President, Knox College

Alison Byerly, President, Lafayette College

Dan McAlexander, President, LaGrange College

Stephen D. Schutt, President, Lake Forest College

Michael B. Alexander, President, Lasell College

Mark Burstein, President, Lawrence University

Lewis E. Thayne, Ph.D., President, Lebanon Valley College

Jeff A. Weiss, President, Lesley University

Barry Glassner, President, Lewis & Clark College

Richard Green, President, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania

Thomas L. Hellie, President, Linfield College

Brian F. Linnane, S.J., President, Loyola University Maryland

Kenneth R. Garren, President, Lynchburg College

Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College

Michael A. Grandillo, President, Madonna University

Stuart Kestenbaum, President, Maine College of Art

James Gandre, President, Manhattan School of Music

David Yellen, President, Marist College

Kevin F. F. Quigley, President, Marlboro College

Samuel Hoi, President, Maryland Institute College of Art

Kerry Walk, President, Marymount Manhattan College

Laurie Patton, President, Middlebury College

John M. Anderson, President, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

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

Ann McElaney-Johnson, President, Mount Saint Mary's University (Los Angeles)

Timothy E. Trainor, President, Mount St. Mary's University

John I. Williams, Jr., President, Muhlenberg College

Daan Braveman, President, Nazareth College

Kent Devereaux, President, New Hampshire Institute of Art

Michael J. Young, President, New York Film Academy

Richard Helldobler, Interim President, Northeastern Illinois University

David Rosen, President, O'More College of Design 

Marvin Krislov, President, Oberlin College

Jonathan Veitch, President, Occidental College

Lawrence Schall, President, Oglethorpe University

Stephen J. Friedman, President, Pace University

Don Tuski, President, Pacific Northwest College of Art

Maureen O'Connor, President Palo Alto University

Donald Birx, President, Plymouth State University

David W. Oxtoby, President, Pomona College

Brian O. Hemphill, President, Radford University

Rabbi Deborah Waxman, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

John R. Kroger, President, Reed College

William E. Troutt, President, Rhodes College

Debbie Sydow, President, Richard Bland College

Donald J. Farish, President, Roger Williams University

Ali R. Malekzadeh, President, Roosevelt University

Allan Cahoon, President and Vice Chancellor, Royal Roads University

Janice A. Cervelli, President, Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, Indiana)

Lorraine Sterritt, President, Salem Academy and College

Janet Dudley-Eshbach, President, Salisbury University

Rachel Schreiber, Interim President, San Francisco Art Institute

Karen R. Lawrence, President, Sarah Lawrence College

Donald Steinberg, President, School for International Training Graduate Institute

Lara Tiedens, President, Scripps College

Tracy Fitzsimmons, President, Shenandoah University

Susan E. Henking, President, Shimer College 

Peg Albert, President, Siena Heights University

Jay Simmons, President, Simpson College

Philip A. Glotzbach, President, Skidmore College

Kathleen McCartney, President, Smith College

Joe Bertolino, President, Southern Connecticut State University

Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire University

David Rees Evans, President, Southern Vermont College

Edward B. Burger, President, Southwestern University

John A. Pieper, President, St. Louis College of Pharmacy

Donald Christian, President, State University of New York at New Paltz

Matthew Derr, President, Sterling College

Kevin J. Manning, President, Stevenson University

Jay Lemons, President, Susquehanna University 

Valerie Smith, President, Swarthmore College

Sarah Bolton, President, The College of Wooster

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)

Danny Anderson, President, Trinity University

Patricia McGuire, President, Trinity Washington University

Anthony Monaco, President, Tufts University

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President, UMBC

Stephen C. Ainlay, President, Union College

Thomas W. Keefe, President, University of Dallas

Walter Harrison, President, University of Hartford

Mark W. Huddleston, President, University of New Hampshire

David Yager, President and CEO, University of the Arts

Quint Thurman, President, University of the Southwest

Robert Caret, Chancellor, University System of Maryland

Jonathan Chenette, President, Vassar College

Thomas Christopher Greene, President, Vermont College of Fine Arts 

Scott D. Miller, President, Virginia Wesleyan College

Steven L. Solnick, President, Warren Wilson College

Weymouth Spence, President, Washington Adventist University

Kenneth P. Ruscio, President, Washington and Lee University

Joseph Kline, President, Watkins College

Michelle D. Jones, President and Founder, Wayfinding Academy

Paula A. Johnson, President, Wellesley College

Jonathan Gibralter, President, Wells College 

Michael S. Roth, President, Wesleyan University

Dennis Hanno, President, Wheaton College (Massachusetts)

David J. Chard, President, Wheelock College

Kathleen M. Murray, President, Whitman 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

Nayef Samhat, President, Wofford College

Pamela J. Gunter-Smith, President, York College of Pennsylvania