Portland State University President Rhamat Shoureshi, We are writing to express our collective outrage, sadness, and frustration as current and former students of Professor Gilley. We would like to join Portland State University in recognizing the importance of academic freedom while also distinctly distancing our views from those expressed in “The Case for Colonialism” by Prof. Bruce Gilley. We understand the value in academic critique. However, scholarly critiques are inadequate to articulate the personal effects this article is having on his students. We assert that this is not an isolated incident of implicit or explicit bias. Professor Gilley has a pattern of marginalizing individual students based on their race and gender in classes.
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The voices which have historically been subjugated to the spectrum of silence are also currently exposed to similar interpersonal disregard. Dismantling institutional barriers begins first with developing a capaciousness, including moral courage, to categorize and classify what is inadequate and then, in turn, to build those systems which move beyond, innovate, and boldly respond to systemic injustice.
We have 3 requests. (1) Students should not be required take core courses on comparative public policy, or any core courses, from Dr. Gilley. (2) PSU consider this statement when evaluating Prof. Gilley’s tenure in the future. (3) This letter should serve as evidence to the administration at PSU that a single online diversity class is not adequate to address the systemic injustices perpetuated upon students. This focusing event should provide insight into how to reassess and more appropriately monitor, evaluate, and properly implement diversity training for faculty at PSU. We request a public forum for discussing how to better evaluate implementation of diversity training in the classroom.
Respectfully,
Alumni and Current Students of the 1st and 2nd MPP Cohorts, we do not claim to represent the views of all students, we are individually identified
The voices which have historically been subjugated to the spectrum of silence are also currently exposed to similar interpersonal disregard. Dismantling institutional barriers begins first with developing a capaciousness, including moral courage, to categorize and classify what is inadequate and then, in turn, to build those systems which move beyond, innovate, and boldly respond to systemic injustice.
We have 3 requests. (1) Students should not be required take core courses on comparative public policy, or any core courses, from Dr. Gilley. (2) PSU consider this statement when evaluating Prof. Gilley’s tenure in the future. (3) This letter should serve as evidence to the administration at PSU that a single online diversity class is not adequate to address the systemic injustices perpetuated upon students. This focusing event should provide insight into how to reassess and more appropriately monitor, evaluate, and properly implement diversity training for faculty at PSU. We request a public forum for discussing how to better evaluate implementation of diversity training in the classroom.
Respectfully,
Alumni and Current Students of the 1st and 2nd MPP Cohorts, we do not claim to represent the views of all students, we are individually identified