From: Stephanie Shonekan To: "msmolyak@rocketmail.com" Cc: "president@umd.edu" Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 09:13:30 PM EST Subject: Re: A statement from the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Dear Michael (if I may), I was made aware of your email and want to assure you that I was equally alarmed to see that statement posted on the website of Women Gender and Sexuality Studies. As a result, I asked them to remove it and they have done so. The statement was brought to my attention on Sunday and it was removed on Monday morning. As I told the faculty of the department, this kind of statement does not belong on a university website. Indeed, I agree completely with you that the role of an academic unit is to teach content that is grounded in scholarship and knowledge, and to provide nuanced context that allows our students to think for themselves. I'm deeply grateful for your thoughtful message and once again assure you that I am reminding our faculty and departments of our mission. Please let me know if you'd like to discuss further. Sincerely, Stephanie Shonekan ------------------------------------------- Stephanie Shonekan, Ph.D. Dean, College of Arts & Humanities Professor of Ethnomusicology University of Maryland, College Park she/her/hers Podcast: Cover Story with Stephanie Shonekan