Dear Dartmouth Community Members:

We write this letter in solidarity with the First Year Trips director, the assistant director, and the chosen directorate.

An op-ed published on The Dartmouth openly attacked and questioned the merit of women on this campus suggesting that they were chosen to be on the directorate due to need for diversity rather than due to their hard work and dedication. These accusations were unfounded and should carry no weight. The mere fact that this college was the last of the Ivy League colleges to allow women to enroll,  as recently as in 1972, serves as proof of this institution’s history of sexism. Not only have women put countless amounts of emotional and physical labor to better this campus but have also had to continuously defend their right to take up space on this campus.  As Asian/American Students for Action stated in their letter, redistribution is not injustice. This invested energy deserves to be praised, not challenged. This college has a long history of erasing the labor of women of color, and we as an organization will not sit idly by as it continues to occur.

The implications of such rhetoric are extremely violent. Language can be violent. Language has historically been and continues to be one of the main tools in preserving oppressive power structures. Therefore, CoFIRED condemns The Dartmouth’s decision to publish this hateful, violent piece. We urge The Dartmouth to issue an apology and retract the names of the directors from the article.

Thank you to all the amazing women of color for all you do to make this campus a better place. Your labor will not be erased.

In Solidarity,

Coalition for Immigration Reform and Equality at Dartmouth (CoFIRED)