[Jewish] "COALITION" STATEMENT

[Michael Erick Boles-Friscia]

***PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY***

Hello everyone,
We are sending out this email to try and address the confusion,
miscommunications, and lack of transparency around the recent meetings under
the title of “coalition building.” We’d also like to use this email to open up
a space for dialogue about the meetings, as well as the direction they will
take. We’d like to take responsibility for not being clear on the direction and
purpose for the space, as well as for the meetings being perceived as exclusive.

Previous emails were initially sent to the hampsigners listserve, and it was
assumed that this would be sufficient to reach multiple groups. Clearly, we
should not have made this assumption, and a much stronger effort to communicate
and coordinate meeting times and space should have taken place.

There are many different perceptions about what the “coalition” meetings have
been. The first one was originally initiated to coordinate responses to
symptoms of systemic oppression at Hampshire. The meeting was catalyzed by a
misogynistic facebook group. It was spontaneous, taking place just after the
CLPP meeting, mostly with CLPP folks in attendance. The idea evolved from
there.

The second meeting took a much different form. The announcement was disseminated
to individuals as well as student groups, and again – we made the same
assumptions about who the announcement would reach. The makeup of the meeting
included signers present at the first meeting as well as interested
individuals. Based on the constitution of the meeting, it became clear that the
space needed to address issues of communication between individuals and
organized groups, and accommodate many different dialogues.

The conversation at the second meeting focused on what oppression looks like at
Hampshire, as well as the discord and communication barriers between students
and student groups on campus. For this reason, the term “coalition” was
misapplied. The space began to define itself as a space for honest
communication between individuals from different parts of the Hampshire
community. It has not been a space for creating an alliance among
signers/student groups, and we take responsibility for this misconception and
continued use of an inaccurate term.

For this reason, we wish to extend our sincerest invitation to all students and
groups who feel a desire to speak to various forms of oppression and how they
manifest themselves on this campus. The reason the term “coalition” was used in
the first place was to denote the goal – not necessarily the present state of
the group.

As of yet, the next meeting has not been scheduled. As we lack any concrete
definition of space or purpose, we need to allow time for truly inclusive input
to generated – both on the definition of the space and simple logistics. We wish
to continue this conversation, and to find meeting times that will allow the
voices of all students and groups to be heard. We strongly encourage everyone
to spread this email to any and all interested students and groups and really
begin a constructive dialogue.

Out of respect for the concerns that have been raised, and everyone’s busy
schedule, the third meeting did not take place. Instead, the folks who had been
organizing the “coalition” meetings drafted this statement. We look forward to
hearing from all of you,

-Michael Boles-Friscia
-Jackson Dunbar Griffin
-Jenna B. Gotthelf
-Rebecca E. Gathmann
-Joshua Truitt
-Anna Wiatt
-Emily Conyngham