December 19, 2012
On the same day our nation learned in horror that 20 first graders and six educators were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School, young people around the country were learning if they had been accepted to their favored colleges and universities. For many years now, our nation’s leaders have engaged in fevered debates on higher education, yet lawmakers shy away from taking action on one issue that prevents thousands of young people from living lives of promise, let alone realizing their college dreams. That issue is gun safety.
Among the world’s 23 wealthiest countries, 80% of all gun deaths occur in the United States and 87% of all children killed with guns are killed here (Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery). In 2010, 2,694 young people were killed by gunfire. 1,773 were victims of homicide; 67 were elementary school-age children. If those children and teens were alive today, they would fill 108 classrooms of 25 each.
We are college and university presidents. We are parents. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We urge both our President and Congress to take action on gun control now. As a group, we do not oppose gun ownership. But, in many of our states, legislation has been introduced or passed that would allow gun possession on college campuses. We oppose such laws. We fully understand that reasonable gun safety legislation will not prevent every future murder. Identification and treatment of the mental health issues that lie beneath so many of the mass murders to which we increasingly bear witness must also be addressed.
As educators and parents, we come together to ask our elected representatives to act collectively on behalf of our children by enacting rational gun safety measures, including:
• Ensuring the safety of our communities by opposing legislation allowing guns on our campuses and in our classrooms
• Ending the gun show loophole, which allows for the purchase of guns from unlicensed sellers without a criminal background check
• Reinstating the ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons along with high-capacity ammunition magazines
• Requiring consumer safety standards for all guns, such as safety locks, access prevention laws, and regulations to identify, prevent and correct manufacturing defects
The time has long since passed for silence and inaction on the issue of reasonable and rational gun safety legislation. We hereby request that our nation’s policy leaders take thoughtful and urgent action to ensure that current and future generations may live and learn in a country free from the threat of gun violence.
Respectfully,
Lawrence M. Schall, Oglethorpe University (GA)
Elizabeth Kiss, Agnes Scott College (GA)
James Gozzo, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (NY)
Lex McMillan, Albright College (PA)
Jeff Abernathy, Alma College (MI)
Tom Flynn, Alvernia University (PA)
Mary Meehan, Alverno College (WI)
Jerry D. Durham, Allen College (IA)
James Edwards, Anderson University (IN)
David Seyle, Andrew College (GA)
Jack P. Calareso, Anna Maria College (MA)
Francesco Cesareo, Assumption College (MA)
Steven Bahls, Augustana College (IL)
Rebecca Sherrick, Aurora University (IL)
Marjorie Hass, Austin College (TX)
Ron Slepitza, Avila University (MO)
Leonard Schlesinger, Babson College (MA)
JoAnn Gora, Ball State University (IN)
Debora Spar, Barnard College (NY)
Clayton Spencer, Bates College (ME)
Mary Hawkins, Bellevue University (NE)
Elizabeth Coleman, Bennington College (VT)
Scott D. Miller, Bethany College (WV)
Charles Krulak, Birmingham Southern College (AL)
Miriam Pride, Blackburn College (IL)
Richard A. Levao, Bloomfield College (NJ)
Barry Mills, Bowdoin College (ME)
Ed Schrader, Brenau University (GA)
Larry Hostetter, Brescia University (KY)
Kristin King, Bryn Athyn College (PA)
John Bravman, Bucknell University (PA)
Christine Plunkett, Burlington College (VT)
Roger H. Brown, Berklee College of Music (MA)
Nancy H. Blattner, Caldwell College (NJ)
Stephen Beal, California College of the Arts (CA)
Steven Lavine, California Institute of the Arts (CA)
Daniel Lowery, Calumet College of St. Joseph (IN)
Deborah C. Jackson, Cambridge College (MA)
James P. Loftus, Cardinal Stritch University (WI)
Mary Hines, Carlow University (PA)
J. Randall O’Brien, Carson-Newman College (TN)
Gregory Woodward, Carthage College (WI)
David Rowe, Centenary College of Louisiana (LA)
John Roush, Centre College (KY)
Esther L. Barazzone, Chatham University (PA)
Michele Nealon-Woods, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (CA)
John Smarrelli Jr., Christian Brothers University (TN)
Pamela Brooks Gann, Claremont McKenna College (CA)
Robert Walton, Claremont University Consortium (CA)
Carlton E. Brown, Clark Atlanta University (GA)
Larry Galizio, Clatsop Community College (OR)
James Phifer, Coe College (IA)
Robert Wyatt, Coker College (SC)
William D. Adams, Colby College (ME)
Darron Collins, College of the Atlantic (ME)
MaryAnn Baenninger, College of Saint Benedict (MN)
Francis Raftery, College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ)
Maryanne Stevens, College of Saint Mary (NE)
Bradley M. Gottfried, College of Southern Maryland (MD)
Jill Tiefenthaler, Colorado College (CO)
Steve Hayner, Columbia Theological Seminary (GA)
Dennison W. Griffith, Columbus College of Art & Design (OH)
Viji George, Concordia College New York (NY)
Charles Schlimpert, Concordia University (OR)
John Johnson, Concordia University Chicago (IL)
Leo I. Higdon, Jr., Connecticut College (CT)
Jonathan Brand, Cornell College (IA)
Richard Valentine, Culver-Stockton College (MO)
Michael Mihalyo, Davis & Elkins College (WV)
Paula Rooney, Dean College (MA)
Dale T. Knobel, Denison University (OH)
Brian Casey, DePauw University (IN)
William G. Durden, Dickinson College (PA)
Walter M. Kimbrough, Dillard University (LA)
Timothy Lenchak, Divine Word College (IA)
David Maxwell, Drake University (IA)
Vivian A. Bull, Drew University (NJ)
David Dawson, Earlham College (IN)
Charles J. Dougherty, Duquesne University (PA)
Loren Swartzendruber, Eastern Mennonite University (VA)
Donald Eastman, Eckerd College (FL)
Alan Ray, Elmhurst College (IL)
Lee Pelton, Emerson College (MA)
Rosalind Reichard, Emory & Henry College (VA)
J. David Arnold, Eureka College (IL)
John Ebersole, Excelsior College (NY)
Sheldon Drucker, Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ)
Jennifer L. Braaten, Ferrum College (VA)
Richard Meyers, Fielding Graduate University (CA)
William T Abare, Flagler College (FL)
Joseph McShane, Fordham University (NY)
Keith Taylor, Gannon University (PA)
T. Alan Hurwitz, Gallaudet University (DC)
Janet Morgan Riggs, Gettysburg College (PA)
Barbara Vacarr, Goddard College (VT)
Mark Scheinberg, Goodwin College (CT)
James Brenneman, Goshen College (IN)
Sanford J. Ungar, Goucher College (MD)
John Sellars, Graceland University (IA)
Paul J. Fonteyn, Green Mountain College (VT)
Kathleen Owens, Gwynedd-Mercy College (PA)
Joan Hinde Stewart, Hamilton College (NY)
Sue DeWine, Hanover College (IN)
Dennis Golladay, Harford Community College (MD)
Margaret Drugovich, Hartwick College (NY)
Joanne V. Creighton, Haverford College (PA)
Mark D. Gearan, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
Nancy Oliver Gray, Hollins University (VA)
J. Cameron West, Huntingdon College (AL)
Robert Clark, Husson University (ME)
Axel Steuer, Illinois College (IL)
Jerry Corcoran, Illinois Valley Community College (IL)
John L. Anderson, Illinois Institute of Technology, (IL)
Richard F. Wilson, Illinois Wesleyan University (IL)
Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, Kalamazoo College (MI)
Jacqueline Chanda, Kansas City Art Institute (MO)
S. Georgia Nugent, Kenyon College (OH)
Charles Scriven, Kettering College (OH)
Jorge Díaz-Herrera, Keuka College (NY)
John Ryan, King’s College (PA)
Teresa L. Amott, Knox College (IL)
Candace Introcaso, La Roche College (PA)
Daniel H. Weiss, Lafayette College (PA)
Jonathan Burke, Laguna College of Art and Design (CA)
Michael T. Victor, Lake Erie College (OH)
Stephen D. Schutt, Lake Forest College (IL)
Jill Beck, Lawrence University (WI)
Joseph Moore, Lesley University (MA)
Walt Griffin, Limestone College (SC)
David Steinberg, Long Island University (NY)
Jim Collins, Loras College (IA)
Mark LaBranche, Louisburg College (NC)
David Burcham, Loyola Marymount University (CA)
Brian F. Linnane, Loyola University Maryland (MD)
Richard L. Torgerson, Luther College (IA)
Brian Rosenberg, Macalester College (MN)
Donald Tuski, Maine College of Art (ME)
Jo Young Switzer, Manchester University (IN)
Brennan O’Donnell, Manhattan College (NY)
Jon C. Strauss, Manhattanville College (NY)
Fred Lazarus, Maryland Institute College of Art (MD)
Joseph W. Bruno, Marietta College (OH)
Judson R. Shaver, Marymount Manhattan College (NY)
Dawn Oxenaar Barrett, Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MA)
James M. Dennis, McKendree University (IL)
Richard Jurasek, Medaille College (NY)
Tom Gamble, Mercyhurst University (PA)
Jo Allen, Meredith College (NC)
Janis Bellack, MGH Institute of Health Professions (MA)
Ronald D. Liebowitz, Middlebury College (VT)
Alecia A. DeCoudreaux, Mills College (CA)
Rob Pearigen, Millsaps College (MS)
Neil Hoffman, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (WI)
Jay Coogan, Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MN)
Michael Macdowell, Misericordia University (PA)
Mary Ellen Jukoski, Mitchell College (CT)
Stephen D. Immerman, Montserrat College of Art (MA)
Cecilia Fitzgibbon, Moore College of Art and Design (PA)
Robert Franklin, Morehouse College (GA)
David Wilson, Morgan State University (MD)
John Reynders, Morningside College (IA)
Lynn Pasquerella, Mount Holyoke College (MA)
Joseph N. Benoit, Mount Marty College (SD)
Christopher Blake, Mount Mercy University (IA)
Ann McElaney-Johnson, Mount St. Mary’s College (CA)
Peyton Helm, Muhlenberg College (PA)
David Schleich, National College of Natural Medicine (OR)
Frederik Ohles, Nebraska Wesleyan University (NE)
Noreen M. Carrocci, Newman University (KS)
Michael A. Miller, Northland College (WI)
Andrew P. Roth, Notre Dame College (OH)
Judith Maxwell Greig, Notre Dame de Namur University (CA)
James Conneely, Notre Dame of Maryland University (MD)
Jonathan Veitch, Occidental College (CA)
Samuel Hoi, Otis College of Art and Design (CA)
Kathy A. Krendl, Otterbein University (OH)
Sandra Harper, Our Lady of the Lake College (LA)
Thomas Manley, Pacific Northwest College of Art (OR)
Ezat Parnia, Pacific Oaks College & Children’s School (CA)
Riess Potterveld, Pacific School of Religion (CA)
Michael H. Droge, Park University (MO)
James Mellichamp, Piedmont College (GA)
Paul Hennigan, Point Park University (PA)
David Oxtoby, Pomona College (CA)
Claude C. Lilly, Presbyterian College (SC)
Kristin Woolever, Prescott College (AZ)
Robert A. Gervasi, Quincy University (IL)
Eli Rabinowitz, Rabbinical Academy Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin (NY)
Thomas Isherwood, Reinhardt University (GA)
William Troutt, Rhodes College (TN)
Gregory Dell’Omo, Robert Morris University (PA)
Donald Farish, Roger Williams University (RI)
Charles R. Middleton, Roosevelt University (IL)
Jim Dlugos, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine (ME)
Carol Ann Mooney, Saint Mary’s College (IN)
Dottie King, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (IN)
Eugene J. Cornacchia, Saint Peter’s University (NJ)
Jane Gerety, Salve Regina University (RI)
Charles Desmarais, San Francisco Art Institute (CA)
Karen Lawrence, Sarah Lawrence College (NY)
Tim Summerlin, Schreiner University (TX)
Lori Bettison-Varga, Scripps College (CA)
Daniel J. Martin, Seattle Pacific University (WA)
John McCardell, Sewanee: The University of the South (TN)
George Arnold, Silver Lake College of the Holy Family (WI)
Philip A. Glotzbach, Skidmore College (NY)
Carol Christ, Smith College (MA)
Paul LeBlanc, Southern New Hampshire University (NH)
Paul Mittman, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and Health Science (AZ)
W. Richard Merriman, Jr., Southwestern College (KS)
Colleen Perry Keith, Spartanburg Methodist College (SC)
Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College (GA)
Richard P. Salmi, Spring Hill College (AL)
Richard B. Flynn, Springfield College (MA)
Andrea Lee , St. Catherine University (MN)
Michael Peters, St. John’s College (NM)
William L. Fox, St. Lawrence University (NY)
Joseph Urgo, St. Mary’s College of Maryland (MD)
Martha K. Shouldis, St. Vincent’s College (CT)
Dianne Lynch, Stephens College (MO)
Kevin J. Manning, Stevenson University (MD)
Mark Cregan, Stonehill College (MA)
Carl J. Strikwerda, Elizabethtown College (PA)
Rebecca Chopp, Swarthmore College (PA)
Jo Ellen Parker, Sweet Briar College (VA)
Susan Fuhrman, Teachers College, Columbia University (NY)
Judith Huntington, The College of New Rochelle (NY)
Grant H. Cornwell, The College of Wooster (OH)
Susan Scrimshaw, The Sage Colleges (NY)
R. Owen Williams, Transylvania University (KY)
James Jones, Trinity College (CT)
Dennis A. Ahlburg, Trinity University (TX)
Pat McGuire, Trinity Washington University (DC)
Bassam Deeb, Trocaire College (NY)
Stephen C. Ainlay, Union College (NY)
Margaret M. McMenamin, Union County College (NJ)
Roger H. Sublett, Union Institute & University (OH)
Serene Jones, Union Theological Seminary (NY)
Stephen Mulkey, Unity College (ME)
Sean Buffington, The University of the Arts (PA)
Margaret Stallmeyer, Thomas More College (KY)
Beverly Hogan, Tougaloo College (MS)
Neil Albert Salonen, University of Bridgeport (CT)
Ed Welch, University of Charleston (WV)
Thomas W. Keefe, University of Dallas (TX)
Thomas A. Kazee, University of Evansville (IN)
Walter Harrison, University of Hartford (CT)
Devorah Lieberman, University of La Verne (CA)
Jay A. Perman, University of Maryland (MD)
Richard Giese, University of Mount Union (OH)
Danielle Ripich, University of New England (ME)
Steven H. Kaplan, University of New Haven (CT)
E. William Beauchamp, University of Portland (OR)
Ronald R. Thomas, University of Puget Sound (WA)
Pamela Trotman Reid, University of Saint Joseph (CT)
Stephen Privett, University of San Francisco (CA)
Gary A. Dill, University of the Southwest (NM)
Bobby Fong, Ursinus College (PA)
Diana Stano, Ursuline College (OH)
Marc Mihaly, Vermont Law School (VT)
Patrick E. White, Wabash College (IN)
Nathan O. Hatch, Wake Forest University (NC)
Tori Haring-Smith, Washington & Jefferson College (PA)
Weymouth Spence, Washington Adventist University (MD)
Kenneth P. Ruscio, Washington and Lee University (VA)
Jim Richardson, Wenatchee Valley College (WA)
Ruth A. Knox, Wesleyan College (GA)
Michael Roth, Wesleyan University (CT)
Richard H. Dorman, Westminster College (PA)
Ronald A. Crutcher, Wheaton College (MA)
Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Wheelock College (MA)
George Bridges, Whitman College (WA)
Sharon Herzberger, Whittier College (CA)
David Sallee, William Jewell College (MO)
Kathleen Waldron, William Paterson University (NJ)
Barbara Mistick, Wilson College (PA)
Anthony DiGiorgio, Winthrop University (SC)
Benjamin Dunlap, Wofford College (SC)
Luís María R. Calingo, Woodbury University (CA)
Norman C. Francis, Xavier University of Louisiana (LA)
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