UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a statement from National Association of Scholars fellow John Sailer.
A University of Notre Dame (UND) alum who publicly opposed a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) position at the architecture school received hateful messages after a dean sent an alumni-wide letter condemning the comments, according to a copy of the letter obtained by National Association of Scholars fellow John Sailer.
Stefanos Polyzoides, School of Architecture dean, sent a letter to alumni to respond to “horrific and deeply hurtful activity on social media” by alumni who were opposed to the school’s DEI goals and its new “Program in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Alumni Engagement,” according to the letter posted to Twitter by Sailer. Polyzoides wrote to alumni to “join [him] in denouncing these hateful comments,” after which an alum reportedly received hateful messages. (RELATED: ‘Hope You Get Gutted’: Conservative Students Face Threats After Trying To Show Daily Wire Documentary On Campus)
“You are literally worse than Hitler,” one message reportedly read. “May you and your seed be subject to sharing bike lanes with SUVs for ten thousand generations.”
“You can’t hide behind the keyboard,” read another. “We see you. The racist and idiotic things you say on Social media will come back to haunt you. Words have consequences. Good time to shut up.”
A third message posted by Sailer called the alum, who was not named, “a mediocre white man.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sailer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The dean essentially called for an online mob, all because an alumnus expressed skepticism over hiring a diversity officer. Skepticism over DEI is justified, and broadly shared. Hugely inappropriate of the dean.”
Notre Dame’s School of Architecture has bulked up its DEI efforts, hiring a new DEI director.
When one grad of the school tweeted criticism of those efforts, the dean of the school sent a letter accusing that alum of racism and sexism, and calling for a large scale denunciation. pic.twitter.com/vlqwBQfBBv
— John Sailer (@JohnDSailer) February 9, 2023
Polyzoides letter did not include what comments he was referring to, but reportedly labeled them as “sexist” and “racist.” The comments were “unacceptable and inexcusable practice by people who were raised within the values of the [UND].”
“I remind you that the inscription on the base of the statue of Jesus that stands before the Golden Dome with welcoming arms reads, ‘Come to me all of you.’ All of you. All are welcome at and all are invited to the School of Architecture,” Polyzoides reportedly wrote.
UND and Polyzoides did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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