Dear Editor,

This is the letter I sent the Admissions Office as well the President of Hampshire College upon learning about their new divestment policy. Please feel free to share it with the members of the SPME.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ben-Amots Ofer <obenamots@coloradocollege.edu >
Date: February 13, 2009 12:01:43 PM MST
To: admissions@hampshire.edu
Cc: JFR@lists.niu.edu, nkelly@hampshire.edu
Subject: Divestment policy at Hampshire College

Dear Admissions Officers,

As a liberal arts college professor I am appalled by the news that your college decided to divests from companies tied to Israel. I would like you to know that as a father of a high school Junior, currently searching for an appropriate college and planning a college-visit trip to the East Coast, we will neither visit nor consider Hampshire College as an option.

I am confident that I am not alone in making this decision and as the news keeps spreading you will keep losing many excellent students as a result of your outrageous and hypocritical decision.

Please feel free to share this information with your Board of Trustees.

Sincerely,

Ofer Ben-Amots

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ofer Ben-Amots, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Music
Associate Chair, Music Department
Colorado College
14 E. Cache La Poudre
Colorado Springs, CO 80903