<p>The following email was sent to All Alumnae/i and Families with the Subject “Respectful Debate”:</p>
<p>February 27, 2014</p>
<p>Dear members of the Vassar community,</p>
<p>Vassar has always been in the thick of analyzing and debating the political, economic, and social issues that affect the larger world, navigating the complexities and controversies that surround those issues. As a vigorous educational community we not only face this regularly, we embrace it.</p>
<p>For example, in recent months specific issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian situation have spurred heightened attention and debate on and off campus, including through social media and in the press. Tensions resulting from different points of view can be difficult, but we should not be surprised that they exist.</p>
<p>There isn’t, nor could there be, a single Vassar viewpoint on complex issues. Rather, we entrust our faculty members to develop and conduct a meaningful curriculum, and we value their independent thinking. Similarly we entrust students and student organizations with independence. This combination is key to Vassar’s educational mission, intellectual vitality and engaging campus life.</p>
<p>Being a community of individuals who think and feel deeply, and differently, is the lifeblood of a Vassar education. We cherish this. But a diversity of voices is not enough. What makes a Vassar education work is the mutual respect we offer one another in the face of different, sometimes highly charged, opinions. We need this. Mutual respect ensures that differing voices and viewpoints are welcomed. Without it, some people will fear participating in the discussions, and this will devalue our debates. Whether we are on campus or in the broader world, we need and seek to model respectful learning and discussion at a time when public debate is so often inflamed and unproductive.</p>
<p>I look forward to our continuing conversations.</p>
<p>Catharine Hill
President</p>