CALIFORNIA, USA, February 26, 2016 (press release, by Kalyan Viswanathan): The UCI School of Humanities’ Ad hoc Committee and the Humanities Executive Committee have acted hastily to reject the gifts from Dharma Civilization Foundation without any consultation with the donors. In part they have cited procedural issues; in part they have openly questioned the legitimacy of the Foundation. Whatever be their intentions, they have not advanced the cause of civil discourse.
On behalf of the many hundreds of donors from the Hindu Community who contributed and participated in the opportunity to endow these Chairs at the University of California’s school of humanities, the Board of Trustees of Dharma Civilization Foundation wish to express their anguish and deep disappointment both at the unilateral decision to reject these chairs, and the manner in which this decision was wrought. DCF is deeply disappointed by the fact that a university which claims to respect diversity, academic freedom and enjoys the goodwill of a substantial number of Indian and Indian American students and alums would buckle so easily under the pressure of an orchestrated, highly politicized campaign and treat a major gift initiative from the community with such discourtesy and disdain.
It is one thing to say that the intentions of the Foundation are incompatible with the academic goals of the UCI School of Humanities, but entirely another to slander the Foundation for having those goals to begin with. The DCF initiative at GTU, remains unaffected by the UCI controversy, and we have the full support of GTU President Riess Potterveld, for the Hindu studies program that we have launched at Berkeley. What the Faculty have done, in endorsing petitions and open letters against DCF’s gifts is most unfortunate and has only served to unncessarily defame DCF. In the short term, it is important that the members of the community who are on the side of Dharma, remain together, and not abandon each other at this moment of crisis. The members of the Dharmic community have a tendency to fragment into pieces, not wanting to be associated with anything controversial. My appeal to you, therefore is to stay united, and focused. We will get through this crisis, and emerge stronger, but only if we stay together.
We wish to reassure the community of volunteers and donors that DCF will continue struggle for the rights of the Hindu and Dharma communities to support, without fear of prejudice or slander, the respectful study of their own cultures and philosophies in the American higher education system as has been the case with every other major religious and racial minority group in America.