To the Williams Community,
Welcome back from what we hope has been for you a restful and reinvigorating break.
We write with several updates regarding the response to and investigation of the hate crime that took place in Prospect Hall on November 12th.
First, we’re pleased to announce that the following members of the community have accepted President Falk’s invitation to serve on the task force on bias incident response.
Lois Banta, Associate Professor of Biology
Sarah Bolton, Dean of the College
Dave Boyer, Director of Campus Safety and Security
Maya Hawkins-Nelson ’14
Aaron Kelton, Assistant Professor of Physical Education and Head Football Coach
Steve Klass (Chair), Vice President for Campus Life
Jordan Mickens ’12
Mike Reed ’75, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity
Malik Sharpe ’14
Lauren Shuffleton ’12
Taj Smith, Assistant Director of The Multicultural Center
Jorge Tena ’12
Claire Ting, Associate Professor of Biology
President Falk has asked the group to determine the best protocol for response to bias incidents of all kinds, to include support, communication, investigation, and other aspects of response that will work as well as possible for those targeted by incidents and for the Williams community as a whole. The task force will begin its work now and continue into the Spring semester until the group’s members reach consensus that it has accomplished its objectives.
We also write with an update on the investigation. Working in collaboration with the Dean’s Office, Campus Safety and Security has interviewed more than 140 people, many of them several times. Each of the leads brought forward by members of the community has been followed up with interviews and further investigation.
The Williamstown Police Department has also conducted an investigation, including the conducting of interviews of its own. The WPD involved the FBI in some of the interviews and other aspects of the investigation.
At this time, none of these agencies – the FBI, WPD, or CSS – has identified a perpetrator. While this is very disappointing for all of us, we remain attentive to any new leads on identifying the person(s) responsible.
As students re-gather on campus and we move towards Claiming Williams day, we look forward to working with many of you on ways to strengthen our community so that neither daily incidents of bias and exclusion nor crimes of the sort that happened on November 12th are part of the experience of being at Williams. We welcome your participation in that crucial, ongoing, work.
Sincerely,
Sarah Bolton, Dean of the College
Steve Klass, Vice President for Campus Life
Mike Reed, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity
Note: See the Nov. 16 issue of the Williams Record for complete coverage of the Nov. 12 incident and the events that followed.
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