How Dare You Use
Our School ‘To Legitimize Prejudice and Intolerance’
By Samuel Warde
Some members of Donald Trump’s alma mater, the Wharton
School of Finance and Commerce, are fed up with the presumptive Republican
nominee using their school to “legitimize” his campaign and are speaking out in
an open letter.
As NBC News reports,
“Donald Trump loves to name-check his alma mater, the prestigious Wharton
School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.
His two-year tenure at the school is
an important pillar of his public persona that
he’s used it not only to burnish his business credentials but to contrast his academic pedigree with his political rivals”
The open letter has already
received the signature of over 600 students, faculty and alumni of Wharton.
The
letter goes on to explain the authors’ disappointment with Trump and his
campaign: “As a candidate for President, and now as the presumptive GOP
nominee, you have been afforded a transformative opportunity to be a leader on
national and international stages and to make the Wharton community even
prouder of our school and values. However, we have been deeply disappointed in
your candidacy.”
The
letter goes on to blast the bigoted billionaire for using his affiliation with
Wharton “to legitimize prejudice and intolerance.”
“We,
proud students, alumni, and faculty of Wharton, are outraged that an
affiliation with our school is being used to legitimize prejudice and
intolerance. Although we do not aim to make any political endorsements with
this letter, we do express our unequivocal stance against the xenophobia,
sexism, racism, and other forms of bigotry that you have actively and
implicitly endorsed in your campaign.”
Noting
that “the Wharton community is a diverse community” made up of
“immigrants and children of immigrants, people of color, Muslims, Jews, women,
people living with or caring for those with disabilities, and members of the
LGBTQ community, ” the letter goes on to state that: “In other words, we
represent the groups that you have repeatedly denigrated, as well as their
steadfast friends, family, and allies.”
The
open letter continues, with the co-authors writing that:
“We are dedicated to promoting inclusion not only because diversity and tolerance have been repeatedly proven to be valuable assets to any organization’s performance, but also because we believe in mutual respect and human dignity as deeply held values. Your insistence on exclusion and scapegoating would be bad for business and bad for the American economy. An intolerant America is a less productive, less innovative, and less competitive America.”
“We,
the undersigned Wharton students, alumni, and faculty, unequivocally reject the
use of your education at Wharton as a platform for promoting prejudice and
intolerance. Your discriminatory statements are incompatible with the values
that we are taught and we teach at Wharton, and we express our unwavering
commitment to an open and inclusive American society,” the open letter
concluded.
As NBC News notes in their report on the open
letter: “Trump has been widely criticized for a plethora of inflammatory public
statements that have been directed at the American Muslim community as well as
undocumented immigrants, some of whom Trump has alleged are criminals and ‘rapists.’ Trump
has also been accused of mocking a disabled reporter,
trafficking in sexism and providing a forum for white supremacists to
espouse their beliefs.”
The
letters’ co-authors told NBC News in
a statement that: “It was important for us to speak out against Trump because,
as we have seen in many moments throughout history, silence is an act of
complicity. This open letter speaks on behalf of Wharton students, alumni and
faculty who wish to speak out against hate and stand in solidarity with all
members of our diverse community — both at Wharton and across America.”
Samuel Warde is a writer, social and
political activist, and all-around troublemaker.
