I agree with the historical impact that Hillary’s election would have and in fact voted for her in my state’s primary because I felt at that time that her policies, ideas, and plans for this country where most in line with my own values and concerns. But as an African-American, the same should be said for the election of Barack Obama. In a country where nooses are STILL being hung from trees as a form of intimidation (e.g. the University of Maryland and Jena, LA), his election would go a long way to showing a change in the social climate of this country to vote for one’s qualifications over one’s skin color.

Your comment makes the issue too black and white (no pun intended) — vote for the woman because she is a woman. Blind support of any kind is “hilarious and pathetic.”

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Subject: Protest Details

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for all of your hard work so far. To keep you updated, Dan, Jeremy, and I had a meeting with Chancellor Wrighton at which he definitely listened to our concerns. As of the time I am sending this, we have not heard an official response from the university as to whether or not Phyllis Schlafly will still be awarded an honorary doctorate at commencement. While we still want to expect that this decision will be overturned, we need to plan for the worst case scenario.

This protest is about protesting Schlafly receiving this honorary doctorate, not protesting Schlafly’s views or her right to speak. We believe that her work is not worthy of an honor and that her tactics are anti-intellectual and against the mission of this institution.

OFFICIAL PROTEST AT COMMENCEMENT

Here are the details of the official protest at commencement. Below that are ways to get involved before commencement or the day of commencement if you are not attending.

1) We will be distributing WHITE ARMBANDS and SHEETS OF INFORMATION about our protest to anyone who is attending. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and invited guests are encouraged to wear these armbands to stand in solidarity against Schlafly receiving this degree.

2) When Schlafly is announced to receive her honorary degree, we will SILENTLY turn our backs. We believe that this silent protest, coupled with the wearing of armbands, is a unified response that can involve many people. We also do not want to make noise because we want vocalizing to be reserved for the other recipients of honorary doctorates and we want to show that we do NOT recognize this honorary degree and are therefore not calling attention to it.

WHAT CAN I DO?

E-mail noschlaflydegree@gmail.com to get more information and to sign-up for the following tasks.

Before commencement…

1) Cut out armbands with us. We are trying to make 10,000 white armbands. We have the materials, but we need your help. Again, e-mail us if you want to help out. we will be setting up times in the Gargoyle to do this starting tomorrow morning.

2) Help out with flyers. [...]

3) Spread the word and let people know that we are protesting Schlafly receiving this honorary doctorate and that her views and “accomplishments” are inconsistent with university policy.

On the day of commencement…

1) Participate in the protest at graduation and let people know what we’re doing to protest so we can have a coordinated response. Keep writing and calling and encourage others to write people and to participate in the protest at commencement.

2) Hand out information and armbands at graduation. If you’re attending, get information and armbands to hand out within your school. If you’re not graduating or participating in graduation, pass out information to everyone attending outside of the quad at various assembly points. E-mail [...] our noschlaflydegree@gmail.com account to get involved with picking up sheets and passing and

If you are not part of the university community…

You are free to help us cut armbands, contact media, and send e-mail responses, but we would ask that you let us keep our graduation a solemn, community occasion on commencement day. There is only ONE degree that we are protesting–that of Phyllis Schlafly. There are many other people who are being honored at this graduation (and their families and guests from all over the world) who deserve to have a respectful ceremony. You are free to protest on the sidewalks outside of the university. If you want more information, feel free to call Police Chief Donald Strom at (314) 935-5514.

Any questions or if you want to sign up to help, e-mail NOschlaflydegree@gmail.com.

Thank you for everything,

Lauren, Dan, and Jeremy on behalf of the Coalition for a Responsible Washington University