On June 15, 2021, Mr. Vince Hardy, Program Coordinator with the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science wrote an email reply to an event invitation. The event was a celebration for Pride month and a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, which is a group working for suicide prevention among the LGBTQ+ community. Mr. Hardy’s response, which is attached here as a screenshot, was directed to the entirety of the staff at the Texas A&M CVM. Recipients included staff, faculty, student workers, and administration; Mr. Hardy’s email was then shared among all of the students of the college. The next day Mr. Hardy released a statement via email, in which he said in part, “I have a love for all people and desire to treat them with the respect and dignity that they deserve.” Dr. August, current Dean of the Texas A&M CVM, then responded with a rather lackluster email.
Let’s be clear. This is unacceptable.
Texas A&M is not historically known for diversity, inclusion, or even tolerance. Its history is fraught with examples of racism, sexism, homophobia, and bigotry. Within the past few decades, the University as a whole and the College of Veterinary Medicine specifically have made strides in terms of inclusion of people previously targeted by the school’s culture. We must be clear that messages such as the one included in Mr. Hardy’s original email subvert those efforts and are primarily hateful. Messages such as Mr. Hardy’s make the school a less inclusive and less desirable place to study, work, and learn. Those types of messages have no place at a public institution of learning.
Emails are shared among the College of Veterinary Medicine countless times daily. As a student there, I received emails about numerous groups in which I had no interest. It was easy to ignore, delete, and move on with my day. In contrast, drafting a multi-paragraph email response, complete with biblical citations, indicates an inherent disgust with the community he was attacking and a willingness to share those views under his professional persona. Mr. Hardy just personally added to the bigoted history of Texas A&M, and the lack of administrative response is contributing to the bigoted *future* of Texas A&M. Vitriol like Mr. Hardy’s creates a hostile environment for his colleagues, staff, students, and administrators. Hate speech requires swift and definitive action, which has so far been lacking from current administration.
Dr. August: I am sure that being Dean of a CVM in today’s current climate is not an easy task. However, I am also confident that you can improve your response to this issue. Mr. Hardy’s mindset is not part of the “jigsaw puzzle,” that should be included in any public place of education. The CVM administration must condemn Mr. Hardy’s bigotry quickly and decisively, lest they risk lasting damage to the culture of the school itself. Let Texas A&M be an example of inclusion, of decisive action against hatred, and of support for *all* of its students, staff, and faculty. “There are good people on both sides,” is not an acceptable response to hatred. Mr. Hardy’s words attacked members of the A&M community to the core of their identity. Please have the strength to stand up for love over hate, inclusion over exclusion, and diversity over bigotry.
To the staff, faculty, and students of Texas A&M: You have so much support. You are not alone. You are not bad or wrong or unwelcome. Texas A&M is better for the diverse quilt made up of all of its people, and the only weak thread in that quilt is hatred. Please take action, be strong, and reach out for support if you need it. Change happens over time; even setbacks like this allow change to launch forward.
Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M CVM have come a long way in terms of inclusion, but there is so much more work to do before people of all walks of life feel welcome. Texas A&M prides itself on creating an Aggie family, on supporting one another and empowering one another.
We are asking for Texas A&M to elect decisive action against this type of hatred and immediately terminate Mr. Hardy. An individual with such vile opinions of students under his direction should not be in such a role. Additionally, a critical action plan to address and prevent incidents like this in the future needs to be put into place, combined with a more powerful message of support for our LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff impacted by this. The appropriate reaction to this incident necessitates sending a message that leaves no questions about the University’s and the CVM’s support for *all* of their students, faculty, and staff.
Hatred is not an Aggie value.
Signed, TAMU alumni:
Mendi Hill, DVM, Class of 1999
Candace Cain Richie, DVM, Class of 2004
Amber Hampton, DVM, Class of 2005
Karen Smith, DVM, Class of 2006
Cassie Epstein, DVM, Class of 2007
Maureen Patricia Kersting, DVM, Class of 2008
Kris Anderson, DVM, Class of 2009
Zachary Clark, DVM, Class of 2009
Christine McCoy Specht, DVM, Class of 2009
Joyce Li, DVM, Class of 2011
Amanda Lust-Theis, DVM, Class of 2011
Kim Bishop, DVM, Class of 2012
Taylor L Carl, DVM, Class of 2012
Elizabeth Fraser, DVM, Class of 2012
Kim Aeschlimann, DVM, DACVS-SA, Class of 2013
Kristen Kjellberg, DVM, Class of 2013
Kathryn Lindauer Kraft, DVM, Class of 2013
Megan Beauchamp, DVM, Class of 2014
Emily Hood, DVM, Class of 2014
Barbara Elise Jemmott, DVM, Class of 2015
Kara Lewton, DVM, Class of 2015
Suzanne Li, DVM, Class of 2015
(Apologies, this is my first petition, and I’m struggling with photos, or I would include Mr. Hardy’s "apology" email and Dean August’s response. Also I apologize for the photo formatting)
No comments:
Post a Comment