To date, 255 college presidents have
joined Emerson President Lee Pelton in a pledge to lead campus
discussions next semester on how best to address gun **** in America
and in offering President Obama any assistance he may need. College
presidents wishing to add their names to this initiative may do so by
emailing lee_pelton@emerson.edu.
Dear Mr. President,
Following your eloquent remarks at the Newtown memorial service, I am
writing on behalf of the many college and university presidents who
have signed this letter in support of your plans to “use whatever power
[your] office holds to engage [our] fellow citizens, from law
enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators,
in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.”
We are writing to lend our individual assistance as well as that of
our academic communities in supporting a long overdue national
conversation about mass killings and gun ****.
We acknowledge, as you have, that these are complex issues that bring
into play competing interests that will require us to balance the
rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms with the concerns
of those calling for more stringent restrictions on gun ownership.
Nevertheless, we ask that urgent attention be paid to developing
measures that would have the effect of curtailing easy access to ****
weapons, especially guns that can hold up to 100 rounds of ammunition
without reloading and have no place in the hands of civilians.
After the **** tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School where
young children and adults were gunned down in a blink of an eye by rapid
fire weapons of human destruction, we believe that it would be nearly
impossible for anyone with heads that think and hearts that feel to
conclude that the status quo is acceptable.
We also ask that serious and sustained consideration be given to a
comprehensive assessment of mental health and other societal issues in
the United States that might have contributed to the numerous mass
killings that our nation has endured in recent years.
History requires that we not stand idly by. We will be judged by our
actions in the days and weeks ahead, by how we answered, as a nation and
as individuals, the question "what will we do?"
Our nation looks to colleges and universities to solve its most
pressing problems and these are issues on which we stand ready to
provide a way forward.
We, therefore, pledge to do what we do best in our academic
communities: engage thought leaders, faculty, students, staff, trustees
and friends in meaningful debate and dialogue, which, in turn, might
lead to positive action.
We write to you in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the
nation’s most effective prophets and servers of the community, who said,
“I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets,
there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.”
Thank you.
M. Lee Pelton
President
Emerson College
See list of colleges that have joined President Pelton:
