Code4Lib Community Statement in Support of Chris Bourg
Last month, MIT Library Director Chris Bourg was chosen by community vote to deliver a keynote lecture at the Code4Lib (library software developers’) conference, in which she cited research examining why people from marginalized groups voluntarily leave jobs in the tech world. Since then, she has been subjected to widespread and coordinated harassment across several platforms, including homophobic and sexist personal attacks, as well as commentary that discounts her expertise, ignores the nuances of her argument, and misrepresents her position. The 2018 organizing committee and Code4Lib conference planners would like to express our wholehearted support of Dr. Bourg and our gratitude to her for her important message. We join with other members of the Code4Lib community in condemning this distressing and unprofessional behavior.
2018 Code4Lib Conference Organizers
- Galen Charlton
- Ben Florin
- Peggy Griesinger
- Bohyun Kim
- Jaime Mears
- Bethany Nowviskie
- Eric Phetteplace
- Amy Wickner
- Becky Yoose
Additional Signatories (Individuals and Organizations Welcome)
- Roy Tennant
- Digital Library Federation (DLF)
- Andromeda Yelton
- Ranti Junus
- Michael Della Bitta
- Michael J. Giarlo
- Jessamyn West
- Peter E. Murray
- Mark A. Matienzo
- Karl-Rainer Blumenthal
- Shira Peltzman
- David Moles
- Nick Andrews
- Anne Slaughter
- Violeta Ilik
- Esmé Cowles
- Mary Jinglewski
- Kevin S. Hawkins
- Bria Parker
- Kaitlin Newson
- Mike Rylander
- Sarah Stang
- Scott Carlson
- Francis Kayiwa
- Bill Erickson
- Nick Ruest
- Shaun Ellis
- Katherine Kim
- Peter Binkley
- Tisha Mentnech
- Mike Simpson
- Jenn Colt
- Tim Donohue
- Alyssa Loera
- Benjamin Armintor
- Vicky Steeves
- Tom Johnson
- Ashley Blewer
- Ryan Wick
- Andreas "Dre" Orphanides
- Aaron Collier
- Andrew Weaver
- Christie Peterson
- Michael Berkowski
- Dave Mayo
- Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
- Dorothea Salo
- Christina Harlow
- Ruth Kitchin Tillman (Code4Lib Journal Editorial Committee)
- Sara Allain
- Corey A Harper
- Charles Ed Hill
- Kim Pham
- Netanel Ganin
- Cecily Walker
- Kelly Kietur
- K. G. Schneider, Ph.D.
- Jaime Taylor
- Brandon Dudley
- Shannon Hunt
- Melissa Wisner
- Kevin Cloud
- Valerie Hawkins
- Ian Knabe
- Rebekah Kati
- Kelly Bolding
- Brendan Quinn
- Kevin Butterfield
- Deb DeGeorge
- Kyle Shockey
Additional signatures are welcome. To sign, please open a pull request or issue at the GitHub repository or ask in the Code4Lib Slack or IRC channel.