An Open Letter to President Alivisatos and Provost Baicker Concerning the Encampment

End the Encampment to Protect the University’s Mission

Dear President Alivisatos and Provost Baicker,

Allowing the continued encampment of protesters on our main quad imposes the following significant costs on the University:

1. Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) restrictions are put in place to ensure that expression furthers the goal of intellectual exchange in the pursuit of truth. Flagrant violations of TPM restrictions undermine the purpose of the University.

2. TPM restrictions are not being applied equally. If the University continues to allow TPM violations by these protestors, while enforcing TPM restrictions on other groups, it is effectively violating the principle of institutional neutrality outlined in the Kalven report.

3. It prevents us from hearing opposing viewpoints since these protestors have repeatedly ripped down and removed posters, flags, and banners they disagree with and shouted down speakers they disagree with.

4. It provides an incentive to engage in TPM violations and encourages future encampments. We risk chaos and the collapse of our ability to function as an institute of higher learning.  

This flagrant violation of our academic values is not going to end unless you take decisive action to remove and sanction these protestors while firmly rejecting their demands.

Sincerely,

Dorian S. Abbot, Professor of Geophysical Sciences

Peggy Mason, Professor of Neurobiology

Callum F. Ross, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy

Rick Shweder, Harold Higgins Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Comparative Human Development

Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor, Booth School

Jerry Coyne, Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolution

Micah T Prochaska, Assistant Professor of Medicine

Sam Peltzman, Ralph & Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Economics Emeritus

Casey B. Mulligan, Professor of Economics

Juan I. Collar, Professor of Physics

Rachel Fulton Brown, Associate Professor of History

Andrew Aronsohn, Associate Professor of Medicine

Gautham Reddy, Professor of Medicine

Adam Cifu, Professor of Medicine

Elliot S. Gershon, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, post-retirement appointment

Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, Helen A. Regenstein Distinguished Service Professor of Classics

Lawrence Grossman, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical Sciences

David Zarfes, Clinical Professor of Law

Emily Underwood, Associate Clinical Professor of Law

Kevin M. Murphy, George Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics Emeritus

John Reinitz, Professor of Statistics, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology, and Ecology & Evolution

Laszlo Babai, Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Prof of Computer Science and Mathematics

Dario Maestripieri, Professor of Comparative Human Development

Shmuel Weinberger, Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Mathematics

Alexander Razborov, Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science

Robert H. Topel, Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Economics

Leslie Kay, Professor of Psychology

D. Allan Drummond, Associate Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

George Glauberman, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics

Russell D. Cohen, Professor of Medicine

Steven J. Davis, William H. Abbott Distinguished Service Professor of International Business and Economics Emeritus, Booth School

Anil Kashyap, Stevens Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Finance

Jing Chen, Janet Davison Rowley Distinguished Service Professor in Cancer Research

Lisa Bernstein, Wilson Dickenson Professor of Law

Josh Avratin, Clinical Professor of Law

Benson Farb, Professor of Mathematics

Laurie Zoloth, Margaret E. Burton Professor of Religion and Ethics

Harald Uhlig, Bruce Allen and Barbara Ritzenthaler Professor of Economics

David Martinez, Associate Professor of Classics and the Divinity School

Richard Epstein, James Parker Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus

Greg Kaplan, Alvin H. Baum Professor of Economics

Dennis W. Carlton, David McDaniel Keller Professor of Economics Emeritus

Simeon Chavel, Associate Professor of Divinity

Ross M. Stolzenberg, Professor of Sociology