UNT faculty writes letter denouncing Trump Jr. speech
Courtesy of UNT
An online letter signed by 87 UNT faculty members denouncing Donald Trump Jr. being invited to speak as part of the UNT Koehne Speaker Series was posted online Friday morning. The letter says faculty are “shocked” and “embarrassed” by the decision to bring in Trump Jr.
Click here to read the letter in its entirety.
President Donald Trump’s oldest son is being paid $100,000 for a 30-minute speech at AT&T Stadium on Oct. 24. According to organizers, Trump Jr. will speak about “freedom of speech.”
Reaction from students, faculty and staff have been mixed about UNT’s decision to sponsor Trump Jr.
In the letter, whose contents were confirmed to the North Texas Daily by UNT associate history professor Nancy Stockdale, faculty members “call on the UNT Board of Regents to rescind the invitation to Mr. Trump and to suspend the Kuehne Speaker Series until UNT administrators can devise a shared-governance process that will bring more of UNT’s stakeholders – including UNT administrators, faculty, staff, and students – together to select speakers.”
The letter also states how the invitation of Trump Jr. “does not represent our university community or our shared values.”
The faculty goes on to claim “this invitation evinces a stunning disrespect for women, people of color, LGBTQ members of our community, and others, and it cannot stand.”
Political Science professor Elizabeth Oldmixon said she signed the open letter because faculty were not given an opportunity to provide input regarding the Trump Jr. invitation.
According to Stockdale, the open letter was not sent directly to UNT administrators.
Featured image: Donald Trump Jr. Courtesy of UNT.
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