RPI Email Accuses Controversial President’s Opponents of Racism and Sexism
By Julian WyllieJanuary 30, 2018
After a growing wave of criticism of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s president, Shirley Ann Jackson, blamed her and other RPI leaders for plummeting alumni donations and financial dysfunction, a member of the college’s faculty said in an email that the discontent stemmed from racism and sexism, The Times Union reports.
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After a growing wave of criticism of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s president, Shirley Ann Jackson, blamed her and other RPI leaders for plummeting alumni donations and financial dysfunction, a member of the college’s faculty said in an email that the discontent stemmed from racism and sexism, The Times Union reports.
An email written by a faculty member and forwarded to alumni by an administrator accuses recent critics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s president, Shirley Ann Jackson, of racism and sexism.Jemal Countess/Getty Images
The email was written by Christopher Bystroff, an RPI professor of biological sciences and computer science. He sent it to a faculty email list on January 22, and it detailed his suspicions that RPI alumni weren’t donating more because of “residual racism and sexism.” He also said in the email that alumni should heed reports of nationwide declines in alumni donation in favor of larger gifts.
“I can’t help thinking that if she were white, male (and maybe a bit taller!), she would not be so quickly dismissed as an autocrat,” Bystroff wrote. “After all, are we to believe that 200 years of institutionalized racism and sexism were suddenly erased when Shirley Jackson was installed?”
Graig R. Eastin, RPI’s vice president for institutional advancement, then forwarded the message to an alumni email list.
Some alumni have responded, saying the email “unfairly” characterizes their motivations for disapproving of Jackson, who is the first woman and the first African-American to serve as president of RPI.
Reports of anger against the president followed a Times Union article mentioning multiple alumni who have publicly announced their decision to withhold further donations.
The Chronicle has also reported on Jackson’s tenure, which has been marked by exceptionally high compensation as well as what critics call a toxic work environment.
