Dear Campus Community:
I remain hopeful about the possibility of engaging in open dialogue with those demonstrating on our campus this week. Such constructive conversation can only be possible with mutual understanding and transparency.
I wrote yesterday to provide transparency about my top priorities for reaching a resolution:
- Tents on campus grounds are a clear violation of Student Handbook code of conduct policies. They also strain our ability to ensure a safe educational environment for all of our students, faculty and staff. The tents must be removed.
- We seek de-escalation through open dialogue.
- We seek resolution with no injuries, no property loss and no arrests.
- We aim to protect the academic calendar and ensure that end-of-year celebrations like Spring Fest and Commencement can proceed safely for all participants.
The demonstrators have also been transparent about their demands for SUNY New Paltz, which I summarize here:
- Disclose all donations, investments, contracts and financial dealings with private companies.
- Sever contracts, withdraw investments and end financial relationships with companies designated by the demonstrators.
- Adopt an ongoing position of nonengagement with companies designated by the demonstrators.
- Drop all sanctions placed on students for their participation in this demonstration.
I spoke with the demonstrators yesterday and listened as they vocalized these demands. I advised them that some are outside our local control, as we are one campus operating within a state university system. In other cases, as with the demand for record disclosures, there are processes already in place (i.e. FOIL) through which our institution is responsive and transparent with stakeholders, as any state agency in New York must be.
One thing that I do control is amnesty, and this responds directly to the demonstrators’ fourth demand. I delegated members of the leadership team to speak with the demonstrators this afternoon and let them know that we are willing to offer amnesty for violations related to the establishment of the encampment, on condition that it be completely and peacefully dismantled by 7 p.m. today. We are also offering the group an opportunity to speak with me and others as an initial step into an ongoing dialogue, should they meet this condition.
I am again asking the demonstrators: Let us work together rather than in opposition. Let us model the kind of collective problem solving that is a genuine strength of this campus community.
As president of this institution, it is my charge to ensure that these conversations occur within a framework of mutual respect for our institutional policies, mission and values. The presence of tents on campus grounds defies that prerequisite of mutual respect and violates policies that I must uphold. The tents must be taken down before we can move forward.
Sincerely,
Darrell P. Wheeler
President
