Entire debates team resigns
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Thank you for sharing. The allegations, if true, would be quite astounding. I look forward to hearing what the university finds, and ends up doing as a result.
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Wow. The resignation letter is damning, and very well done - clearly, the writer knows how to present an argument!
Bates is going to have to appoint a different faculty advisor. Sounds as if this one was on a little power kick.
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Sounds like it. And, of course, then there is the boondoggle to London - it’s pretty low to use club funds to bring your spouse to Europe on the club’s dime (I doubt that they are flush with cash).
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If what the students wrote was indeed what happened, Bates should require her to reimburse the club funds for her husband’s expenses. Of course, it might have only been that he stayed in the hotel room with her - but 6 days, when the event was only 1-2 days? And not being present, coaching, throughout the event?
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According to reporting in The Bates Student, the source of funding for the husband’s travel has not been disclosed.
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It’ll be interesting to see if the administration steps up. Doesn’t seem like they have so far.
Complaining about 6 days in London v 2 days ???
What’s the question? Sammi Rippetoe, the advisor to the debate team, allegedly made reservations/tickets for London for six days (including her SO) for a two day conference using the debate team club’s funds to do so.
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I don’t think it’s a question. It seems more like outrage that students would stand up for themselves. Their complaints and concerns seem very significant, even when omitting the potential misuse of funds.
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Note to self: never piss off an entire debate team. Half of one might be a better idea. 
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This is the best article I’ve found so far detailing concerns.
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Maybe if you’re trying to maintain a club with a very strong tradition at your college, best not to ask a “visiting assistant professor” to run it?
A quick tour of the internet shows this professor has had affiliations with University of Georgia, Wake Forest, Humboldt State University, Depauw University…a career of vagabondage that doesn’t exactly lend itself to “maintaining traditions.” I can’t say I know anything about her contract with Bates. Maybe she has a future there. But a long-term commitment, institutional memory, etc., are valuable things.
Not excusing any bad behavior. But if Bates wants this program run well, maybe ponying up the dough for a tenure-eligible professor with loyalty to and mature insight into the institution would be a better choice.
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MIssing an extra 4 days of class. And added expense.
If the debate tournament lasted two days, then 4 days would be the least amount of time to spend in London. Arrive first day & get settled in, then participate in the debate tournament for two days, then leave the next day.
Ridiculous to complain about spending an additional two days in London as there is a lot to see & experience.
This part of the students’ complaint reduces the credibility of the complaint as it seems like the students are looking for anything to complain about regarding their debate coach. If the trip to London was just 3 or 4 days, I suspect that the students would complain about the overseas trip being too short & a wasted opportunity to enjoy & explore London.
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The articles make clear that this was not just about the length (and associated costs from their limited budget) of one trip. There were many issues with her leadership of the group.
Yes, I understand that this was not the only complaint. I think that you missed my point. My point is that complaining about an extra 2 or 3 days in London–an overseas trip–on a 6 day trip is a weak grievance which, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of the other stated concerns. Debaters should have a better grasp on how to advance a grievance beyond casting all of the target’s actions as malfeasance.
I am experienced enough to know that there are at least 3 sides to every story (yours, mine, and the truth) and would like to hear from the subject of the complaint. Without any response, the resigning debaters have weakened their position by attacking an aspect that is not clearly a wrong.
But I don’t think it is a weak grievance - and they certainly did not think so. You are looking at it as “is 6 days vs. 3 days in London objectively bad” vs. “given the limited budget available to the team, and the team’s preference for a shorter trip to allow them to do another tournament and miss less school, was it wrong for the faculty member to decide to make the trip 6 days (especially when it appears she was using it as a vacation opportunity with her spouse)?”
She is unlikely to post on CC. 
Yes, at this point there does not seem to be a clear response from Rippotoe, and that will provide a fuller picture, but an entire team resigning is good evidence that things are untenable.
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Her response could be shared here or in the Bates College student newspaper or elsewhere so that is not a factor.
Regardless, there is at least one other side to each concern raised by the complainants and I am interested in reading any response given in any forum.
This wasn’t the first trip the group had made to London. Other trips were made for shorter periods not only to save money but to return to class.
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