Although the university’s response to threatening emails sent to 7 individual faculty and staff associated with the sociology department and 5 other units on campus was slow, the response of our department was not. In addition to the email noted in my previous post, drafted by our department chair Joseph Soares, our newest faculty member, Brittany Battle, took it upon herself to write a letter of support to parents and loved ones of Wake Forest students.
I am grateful that she did. The letter appears below.
As a two-time parent of Wake Forest undergraduates (including one currently), I was happy to co-sign.
Dear Parents and Loved Ones of WFU Students,
Over the past week, the university has been experiencing the aftermath of hateful emails sent to members of the university community. We have spoken with many students and many have described their fear and anger. We can completely relate to those feelings, which are shared by many associated with the university, including parents. As faculty and staff members at Wake, we want to assure you that we are here on campus to support your children and to advocate for their safety and security. We are committed to making sure that the most marginalized students on our campus–students of color, LGBTQ+ students, first-generation students–have faculty in their corner who are speaking on their behalf. We are committed to doing our very best every day to make them feel welcomed and valued here. The most rewarding part of our job is teaching and supporting your children, a job that we all hold in the utmost regard. We know you trusted the university in sending your child to get their education at Wake, in many cases hours away from home. We hope that knowing your child has the support of faculty and staff, across departments and individual backgrounds, provides you with some comfort.
In Solidarity,
Brittany P. Battle, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Saylor Breckenridge, Associate Professor of Sociology
Hana Brown, Associate Professor of Sociology
Amanda Gengler, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Amanda L. Griffith, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Economics
Kristina Gupta, Assistant Professor, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Marina Krcmar, Professor, Communication, WFU Parent (‘17)
Jayati Lal, Visiting Associate Professor, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Jieun Lee, Assistant Professor, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Tanisha Ramachandran, Associate Teaching Professor, Department for the Study of Religions
Don R. Shegog, II, Instructional Technologist for Economics, Politics and Sociology Departments
Robin Simon, Professor of Sociology
Joseph A. Soares, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology
Alessandra Von Burg, Associate Professor, Communication, WFU Parent (‘14)
Ron Von Burg, Associate Professor, Communication, WFU Parent (‘14)
David Yamane, Professor of Sociology and Wake Forest Parent (‘17, ‘22)
Mir Yarfitz, Associate Professor, Department of History
Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Director—Special Collections & Archives, ZSR Library