Grad students to boycott speaker

Nearly 20 Penn history graduate students plan to boycott Yale University History Professor David Brion Davis's speech this afternoon at the History Department lounge, according to first-year doctoral history student Brian Caton, the group's spokesperson. Davis was invited by the History Department to lecture as part of the Annenberg seminar series, which has been bringing speakers to campus to address history issues. The purpose of the boycott is to demonstrate dissatisfaction with Yale's conduct towards Yale graduate students. "We are very upset by Yale's violation of that right," explained fourth-year history doctoral student Michael Kahan, who is involved in the protest. "And we see Dr. Davis as representative of Yale administration's actions against the graduate students," he said. According to the group, Davis filed a formal complaint against third-year Yale history graduate student Diana Paton during last month's Yale teaching assistant strike. In his letter to Yale's Graduate School Dean Thomas Appelquist, Davis wrote that Paton's actions were outrageous, irresponsible and disloyal. Davis added that Paton's "behavior cannot be tolerated by Yale Graduate School." As a result of the complaint, Paton was brought before the Graduate School Disciplinary Committee for a hearing in which Davis testified against her, according to Caton. She was charged with four offenses, but was only "found guilty of disrupting the university and defiance of legitimate authority of an officer of [Yale] University." Paton's teaching suspension ended after the strike, but a letter of reprimand was placed in her file. The Penn boycotters say they are protesting the fact that Paton was singled out and punished for not turning in her grades. The group does not represent the entire history graduate student body or the History Department, but a number of concerned individuals, Caton emphasized. The group plans to stand outside of the lounge and distribute leaflets, hoping to convince faculty and students not to attend the seminar, Kahan said. "We do not intend to disrupt the seminar," he said. A letter with 18 signatures describing the group's actions was circulated to every faculty member and graduate student in the American Civilization and History Departments last Friday. The letter cited a resolution passed by the American Historical Association which recognizes the right for graduate students to unionize and organize. "The AHA affirms its commitment to the principle that all academic teaching staff, including graduate student teaching assistants, have the right to organize and to bargain collectively," the document stated. "The Association urges Yale University to respect that right," it continued. So far, only one professor has responded to the letter, Kahan said. He added that the sender expressed disappointment and suggested the group had not considered Davis' point of view. In a meeting last week, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly passed a resolution endorsing the group's attempts to stage a boycott. No action will be taken to boycott the second Davis talk sponsored by the Judaic Studies Department and an African American organization, according to Kahan.