Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students of the Black and LGBTQ+ Communities,

On Tuesday, March 20, 2018, members of the Colorado College community were informed that select students and faculty at Colorado College received an email that expresses racist, anti-black, and white supremacist views. Particularly, the email targeted Black students and staff members, students of color, and those in the Trans community. We are devastated that this email targeted two of our long-standing Black staff members and talented students of the Colorado College community. Alumni of Color and our allies stand with Black students and staff, people of color, Dean Rochelle Mason and Dean Mike Edmonds, and with the Colorado College community. We condemn all efforts by white supremacists to propagate their hatred.

The overtly racist and misogynistic email sought to spread white supremacy in its most revolting and destructive form. The hate speech and call to action stands to create an environment that could hinder the social, emotional, and academic success of current Black students, students of color, and LGBTQ+ students. It hinders efforts to educate all Colorado College students about the value of campus diversity, the need for equality and social justice, and white people’s role in ending bigotry and oppression against communities of color. As the conversation and partnership with Colorado College and the wider community develops over the next few weeks, Alumni of Color hope to serve as a resource for students, staff, and faculty. 

Alumni of Color, both far and near, and our allies are organizing to extend our collective resources and assistance to Colorado College and the Butler Center to support students, faculty, and staff impacted by this heinous email. It is imperative that Colorado College provide a safe, supportive, and proactive climate for students. We, as alumni are ready to help. President Jill Tiefenthaler demonstrated Colorado College’s readiness by identifying on-campus resources that students can reach out to: the Butler Center, Chaplain’s Office, and the Counseling Center. Alumni of Color are a resource as well. We are the leaders and advocates of color and the allies that white supremacists wish to erase and deny.

As Alumni of Color and allies, we commit to:

• Stand in solidarity with those affected by this white supremacist call to action.
• Hold accountable the author or authors of the email.
• Advocate for, participate in, and facilitate informed responses organized by
  Colorado College and the Butler Center or as requested by students, faculty,
  and staff as they see fit.
• Encourage informal anonymous gatherings as students, faculty, and staff carve out safe and healing spaces, and offer to facilitate or organize such gatherings as alumni are able to, both on and off campus, virtually, and/or by phone.
• Advocate for anti-oppression and anti-bigotry sessions on and off campus.
• Celebrate Black excellence, Trans excellence, people of color excellence, and call attention to a long legacy of Colorado College Alumni of Color who have made extensive contributions on and off campus, and who have shaped the views and efforts of our white allies in advocating for social justice and anti-oppression work.

We call on faculty, staff, students, and alumni who were not targeted by the email to go beyond their anger and commit to calling out anti-black racism in every context. The racist ideas and call to action in the email will go unchallenged if we do not take personal responsibility for calling it out when we see it in our everyday lives in all its forms — both explicit and implicit.   

In solidarity,

Aurora Bamba ’14

Joel Begay ’14

Tram Ngoc Ha ’14

Gianina Horton ’14

Johnny Reed ’13

Nancy Hernandez ’96

Linnea Ingram ’17

Stephanie Beltran ’12

Esther Chan ’16

Wynter H Scott ’18

Elijah Douresseau ’13

Justin Garoutte ’12

Lucille Wenegieme ’11

Eileen Kitrick ’17

Angela Cobian ’11

Alec Sarché ’17

Paulina Barrios ’09

Brittany Almeida ’14

Stephanie Olivas ’14

Jed Ball ’16

Sidharth Tripathi ’17

Zoe Pierrat ’17

Lauren Dinsmore ’14

Marianne Aldrich

Cholpon Tuzabaeva ’15

Andrew Abeyta ’09

Yvonne Abeyta ’08

Charis Whitnah ’13

Marcel Gremaud ’16

Thamanna Vasan ’14

Lauren Nelson ’14

Erin Shum ’12

Daniela Lopez-Morales ’10

Ashley Contreras ’12

Joseph Hauck ’11

Emiliano Morales ’17

Jesus Loayza ’16

Daniel Alvarado ’13

Jade Frost ’17

Liliana Flores Amaro ’08

Andrea Herrera Moreno ’09

Lydia Hoff ’14

Katy Touysinhthiphonexay ’11

Michelle Gonzalez ’08

Julia Liao ’15

Molly Lynch ’13

Justin White ’15

Courtney-Rose (Harris) Dantus ’10

Nicole Hansen ’16

Arielle Mari ’12

Alison Bemis ’17

Elizabeth Kancilia ’10

Clare Holtzman ’17

Monica Weindling ’17

Charlie Flesche ’15

Katie Kantor ’10

Jamie Torres ’99

Brittney (Moore) Stroh ’10

Aaron Gutierrez ’08

McQella Adams ’16

Alexis Knox-Miller ’04

Axum Teklu ’13

Olivia Hart ’14

Isaiah Thomas ’07

Madeleine Schmidt ’16

Laura Berry ’16

Alec Arellano ’11

Alicia (Martinez) Miranda ’09

Amairani Alamillo ’16

Linda Jimenez ’14

Sirina Milsap ’09

Annette Megneys ’86

Ashley McCulloch ’12

Ethan Varian ’11

Mindy Huang ’15

Emily Wassell ’06, MAT ’07

Alex Duncan ’17

Mariko Foecke ’17

Kritika Dwivedi ’08

Marie L. Rubin ’93

Laurel Hesse ’13

Cameron Mansanarez ’10

Karen Rojas Palacios ’16

Shayla Gordon ’14

Justin Haas ’16

Andrea Christensen ’93

Clara Aya Blanco ’17

Helen Feldman ’15

Michelle Cordell ’16

Peter Duker ’13

Tashbid (Nawar) Sattar ’15

Chelsea Wilson-Kelsey ’08

Ian Blake Newhem (Newman) ’91

Mary Wang ’13

Sarah Perez-Sanz ’13

Sarah Van Deusen Phillips ’95

Emma Zareen Brachtenbach ’17

Becca Spiegel ’12

Jared W. King ’01

Lucy Sudekum ’14

Blair Huff ’14

Joel Bock ’11

Kelsey Zeikel ’16

Nicole Gillett ’13

Megan Helseth ’11

Zoe Osterman ’11

Rosie Nelson ’14

Lisa Strassner Hutchcraft ’02

Hadar Zeigerson ’15

Eliza Scally ’11

Ashleigh (Willis) Spatt ’11

Stuart Hackley ’11

Kelsey Lenihan ’13

Tia Remington-Bell ’09

Audrey Wheeler ’15

Lauren Aczon ’08

Kate Dunn ’14

Emma Whitehead ’16

Tori Frecentese ’13

Sarah Breyfogle ’17

Natasha Appleweis ’14

Noelani Kawashima ’13

Sophia Schneider ’13

Carmen Rodi ’13

Spencer Cortney Green ’12

Jitu Varanasi ’13

Scott Choi ’17

Samantha Wallace ’11

Sandra (Diaz) Lucio ’11

Hillie Teller ’14

Amy Valencia ’17

Sarah E Velez ’13

Kendall DeLyser ’11

Nora Alami ’13

Nicole Laniohan ’09

Maggie Dillon ’15

Katherine Whalen ’14

Dontené Bonnet ’17

Amanda Flores ’13

OJustin Henceroth ’09

Zora Jackson-Bartelmus ’17

Katy Dalton ’16

Katie Osborn ’16

Colleen Leong ’16

Brenda de Luna ’07

Porschae Chitmon-Turner ’14

Arina Abbott ’16

Emma Agnew ’14

Elizabeth Hunt ’14

Erin Gould ’13

Donna Haraway ’66

Michael Murney ’16

Avery Kernan ’14

Arian Frost ’12

Shannon McCarthy ’16

Kimberly Sánchez-Cawthorn ’97

Robin Iiams Walters ’85, MAT 1991

Andrea L. Ruybal ’12

Erica Hoffman ’16

David A. Bell Jr. ’86

William Carson ’15

Zachary Levy ’21

Lynda Duran ’08

Felisa Gonzales ’01

Desiree Hartman ’16

Annalise Grigereit ’16

Robert J. Salazar Sr. ’73

Ann Romero ’75

Anna Zekan ’13

Ben Grund ’14

Reed Young ’16

Sendi Estrada ’13

Lia Bentley ’14

Erin Trampler Bell ’93

David E. Bell ’94

Dolores S. Atencio ’77

Felix A. Sanchez ’93

Phil Williams ’02

John-Henry Williams ’19

Thomas Crandall ’16

Cara Greene ’12

Ashley Randle ’14

Carly Stafford ’16

Emily Franklin ’13

Spencer Spotts ’17

Jessica R. Wright ’17

Hannah Sayles ’15

Brian Johnson ’11

Bill Kawashima ’78

S. Casey O’Donnell ’14

Ryan Raul Banagale ’00

Navin Rahman ’14

Natalie Dupille ’13

McKenna Asakawa ’16

Marina van Stirum ’09

Mackenzi Bell-Nugent ’14

Marcela Onãte-Trules ’18

Maria Barsallo Lynch ’07

Daniel Ortega ’80

Brianna J. Apodaca ’18

Max Rawson ’17

Vanessa Roberts ’08

Candace Datz ’13

Samuel Faktorow ’13

Kate Vukovich ’13