Dear Professor Zingales,

   

As you are aware, there is significant concern among members of our university community about the invitation to Steve Bannon to speak on our campus. We believe this event will undermine the efforts of so many people on our campus to promote the ideals of diversity and inclusion to which we are committed, including in key areas such as our relationship with our surrounding communities and our city, and recruitment of faculty and students from underrepresented groups. We hope that you will see that the costs of this event, which will be borne by some of the most vulnerable among us, far outweigh any benefit it might have.

 

If this event is to occur, however, you are no doubt aware that there are plans to organize events to respond to the affront that Bannon's presence represents, for instance one at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. We believe that the organizers of these events should be given the chance to plan them to occur in advance of Bannon's visit, or concurrently if they wish to provide a direct alternative to the Bannon event. We thus ask you for the date, time, venue, and format of the Bannon event, including information on who will be allowed to attend it. If any or all of these are still undetermined, we ask for a commitment to provide this information with at least two weeks' notice.

 

This is a public letter, and is being sent to the Chicago Maroon as well. Your response might also be made public.

 

Sincerely,

   

The officers of the University of Chicago Advocacy Chapter of the American Association of University Professors:

   

Anton Ford

Elaine Hadley

Denis Hirschfeldt

Willemien Otten

Ken Warren