UNION News

Union Faculty React to the Election of Donald Trump

Categories: Press Releases

Dear UTS Friends,

We, the undersigned faculty of Union Theological Seminary, believe it is crucial to express our deep concerns about the results of the November 8, 2016 election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. In his campaign, President-elect Trump has blasphemed the most fundamental values of our community and our nation. His campaign relied on misinformation, fear, and racial and ethnic hatred. His election is of grave concern to us all.

The diplomatic, financial, and cultural consequences of this election are inestimable. The strengthening of public education seems a dream of the past, as do Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Labor seems destined to continue its uphill struggle. Our work to expand voting rights and end mass incarceration has been seriously wounded. The devastation of climate change has been ignored. Our standing in the world, even with our longtime allies, has been undermined.

And most unacceptable and outrageous, our highest elected leader has used rhetoric that demeans the dignity of women, people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, and Muslims. We strongly protest all such hate speech and racist rhetoric and their dangerous consequences. The worst sins of our brutally racist American past must not now become an unfettered reality in our American present and future.

In the face of this devastating reality, we, the faculty of Union, write this letter to our students, alumni/ae and friends to publicly reaffirm the values that hold us together. We commit ourselves to standing together against these forces of harm and to working together for goodness and justice.  Our teaching and learning have never been more important. Let us face the days ahead with courage and fortitude of spirit. As a community, let us draw on the power of our religious and spiritual traditions. Let’s us move forward together, with resolve, hope, and prophetic vision.

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Sarah Azaransky, Assistant Professor of Social Ethics

Mary C. Boys, Dean of Academic Affairs and Skinnner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology

David Carr, Professor of Old Testament

Claudio Carvalhaes, Associate Professor of Worship

Pamela Cooper-White, Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor of Psychology and Religion

Samuel Cruz, Assistant Professor of Church and Society

Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics

Roger Haight, Scholar-in-Residence

Esther Hamori, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible

Jeremy Hultin, Visiting Associate Professor of Biblical Languages

Serene Jones, President of the Faculty, Johnston Family Professor for Religion and Democracy

Brigitte Kahl, Professor of New Testament

Tara Chung Hyun Kyung, Associate Professor of Ecumenical Studies

Jerusha Tanner Lamptey, Assistant Professor of Islam and Ministry

Daisy Machado, Professor of Church History

John Anthony McGuckin, Ane Marie and Bent Emil Nielsen Professor in Late Antique and Byzantine Christian History & Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies, Columbia University

Troy Messenger, Director and Visiting Assistant Professor of Worship

Aliou C. Niang, Assistant Professor of New Testament

Su Yon Pak, Senior Director & Associate Professor of Integrative and Field Based Education

Jan Rehman, Visiting Professor for Critical Theory and Social Analysis Director of the Ph.D. Program

Greg Snyder, Senior Director of Buddhist Studies

John J. Thataminal, Associate Professor of Theology and World Religions

Lisa Thompson, Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Janet R. Walton, Professor Emeritus of Worship

Andrea C. White, Associate Professor of Theology

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