Dear UVM community,

Earlier today, we heard from President Suresh Garimella about the university’s agreement to a voluntary resolution of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigation into reports of antisemitism on our campus. As leaders with responsibility for the wellbeing of the university community, we are sharing additional details about our ongoing efforts to combat hate in all its forms, including antisemitism, on our campus.

It is UVM’s responsibility to provide equal opportunity for all members of its community including those who identify as Jewish to fully express their identity in an environment free from discrimination and harassment. If members of our campus community experience a hostile educational or work environment because of their identity, including their shared ancestry, the university will use all tools at its disposal to address and eliminate the hostile behavior and enable each member of our community to learn and work in an inclusive environment that leans into our Common Ground values

As part of our commitment to continual review and improvement, UVM is updating our equal opportunity and antiharassment policies and procedures to make abundantly clear that discrimination and harassment based on shared ancestry, including antisemitism, violate university policy. We are developing specific policy improvements to share in the coming weeks, and we pledge to continue holding ourselves to a standard that ensures our response to reports of hateful conduct related to antisemitism will be timely and effective, and addressed in the same manner we address other forms of discrimination and harassment. At the heart of the resolution agreement is our reaffirmation that when an act of antisemitism occurs, we will take appropriate and necessary action to address the act, prevent its recurrence, and support those impacted.

There will be times when reports do not fit the narrow parameters of actionable discrimination and harassment, such as when parties and witnesses are unknown to UVM or fall outside the university’s authority or control. Though we abhor these acts, some hateful statements are protected by the First Amendment or related principles of free expression. In such instances, UVM cannot resolve reports through investigation and punishment.

In those times—indeed, at all times—our community must stand with those who are targets of hateful expression and denounce those who target them. When students, faculty, and staff stand together against hate, we uphold our Common Ground values. When we support our stance with clear, rational, thoughtful, and critical discourse, we rise above the hate and reflect to our community and the world the best of UVM.

We are fully committed to our ongoing support of our vibrant and diverse community, and to the essential work of policy refinement and procedural improvements. Our goal is to ensure that all members of our community are well-served and free to outwardly share the special and distinctive expressions of their identities.

Respectfully,

Patty Prelock, Senior Vice President/Provost
Erica Caloiero, Vice Provost for Student Affairs
Amer Ahmed, Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion