Fossil Free Penn camped out in front of College Hall, urging Penn to take action to stabilize the world's climate.
Credit: Kylie CooperStudents who camped out on College Green last week have urged our University to take a leadership role in stabilizing the world’s climate.
They are in excellent company. In March, 500 U.S. and U.K. climate scientists and professors called on universities to divest and reject money for climate research from fossil fuel companies. Just this month, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, called for action. “If you live in a big city, a rural area or a small island State; if you invest in the stock market; if you care about justice and our children’s future; I am appealing directly to you: demand that renewable energy is introduced now — at speed and at scale; demand an end to coal-fired power; demand an end to all fossil fuel subsidies.”
Last week, Fossil Free Penn’s climate action was praised by the ambassador from the Maldives, who visited the students’ encampment while at Penn for a Perry World House conference on the survival of small island states confronting climate change, and said, “I am leaving with renewed hope after seeing young people on campus passionately engaged in climate action.”
We believe that student activists are right to call for Penn to do more and we support their peaceful protest. We are concerned that Penn administrators have summoned a group of students to a disciplinary meeting. Sit-ins and campouts have long been part of the way effective protest happens in the United States. We want to see that tradition respected. Peaceful expressions of protest should be welcomed on our campus, especially those that raise important ethical questions.
Signed,
1. Simon Richter, Professor and Chair, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
2. Eric Orts, Guardsmark Professor, The Wharton School
3. Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, Department of English
4. Billy Fleming, Wilks Family Director, Ian L. McHarg Center, Weitzman School of Design
5. Amy C. Offner, Associate Professor, Department of History
6. Richard M. Leventhal, Professor, Department of Anthropology
7. Andrew T. Thomas, Lecturer, SAS (Urban Studies) / SP2 (NPL)
8. Chi-ming Yang, Professor, Department of English
9. Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, Associate Professor, Department of History, Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies
10. Bethany Wiggin, Associate Professor, Department of Germanic languages and Literatures
11. Anne Berg, Assistant Professor, Department of History
12. Sheila Murnaghan, Alfred Reginald Allen Memorial Professor of Greek, Department of Classical Studies
13. Tulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science
14. Marcy Norton, Associate Professor, Department of History
15. Juston McDaniel, Edmund J. and Louise W. Khan Endowed Professor of Humanities, Department of Religious Studies
16. Karen Redrobe, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Endowed Professor in Film Studies, Department of Art History
17. Ericka Beckman, Associate Professor, Department of Hispanic and Portuguese Studies
18. Kathleen Brown, David Boies Professor of History, Department of History
19. Robert Vitalis, Professor, Department of Political Science
20. Dominic Vitiello, Associate Professor, Weitzman School of Design
21. Jared Farmer, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, Department of History
22, Susan Lindee, Janice and Julian Bers Professor of History and Sociology of Science and Chair, Department of History and Sociology of Science
23. Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science
24. Eiichiro Azuma, Professor, Department of History
25. Projit Mukharji, Associate Professor, Department of History and Sociology of Science
26. Anne Norton, Stacey and Henry Jackson President;s Distinguished Professor, Department of Political Science
27. Deborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Professor, Department of Anthropology
28. Siyen Fei, Associate Professor, Department of History
29. Akira Drake Rodriguez, Assistant Professor, Weitzman School of Design
30. Heather Love, Professor, Department of English
31. Nancy Farriss, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Emerita, Department of History
32. Suvir Kaul, A. M. Rosenthal Professor of English, Department of English
33. Mary Summers, Lecturer, Department of Political Science
34. Kathy Peiss, Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History, Department of History
35. Benjamin Pierce, Professor, Department of Computer Science
36. Nikhil Anand, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
37. Cathy Bartch, Associate Director of the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies Program, Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies
38. Paul Saint-Amour, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities and Chair, Department of English
39. Herman Beavers, Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President’s Distinguished Professor of English and Africana Studies, Department of English
40. Amy Hillier, Associate Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice
41. Sandra Theis Barnes, Professor, Emeritus, Department of Anthropology
42. Gerald Campano, Professor, School of Education
43. Nicholas Pevzner, Assistant Professor, Weitzman School of Design
44. Zahra Fakhraai, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
45. Amy Kogon, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine
46. Kermit Roosevelt, David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice, Carey Law School
47. David Kazanjian, Professor, Department of English
48. Teemu Ruskola, Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
49. Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, Department of History
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