January 24, 2021 Follow-Up

to “An Open Letter to the University of Dallas Board of Trustees, the Bishop Chancellor,
the Faculty Senate, the Office of the President, and the Office of the Provost Regarding the
Social Media Posting of Hatred Against Trans Persons by Chair of the Political
Philosophy Department, Prof. David Upham”

Instead of responding to me directly (or at all), UD officials and the Bishop’s office of the
Catholic Diocese of Dallas have chosen to manipulate individual undersigners of the Open
Letter, as illustrated here by the text of Interim Associate Dean Burns’ email to some who
undersigned the Open Letter:

The attached letter was recently forwarded to me. It has a bunch of names at the end of it, of
which you're the only four who've been my students. I was honestly quite taken aback at this
and thought owed it to you to reach out before I say anything more.

Is it really the case that you are demanding that UD fire Dr. Upham? Are your signatures
in fact meant (as signatures usually are) to signal agreement with the whole letter? Or is it
possible that the attached version of the letter is misrepresenting you? IS there some sort of
official version of it, and if so, where?

I'd be very glad to hear any clarification that one or all of you are willing to offer.

Sincerely, Dan Burns

To be clear, nothing in the original Open Letter indicated a willingness to fire Prof.
Upham—only to:
 1) hold him accountable for the statements he makes on social media; and

2) ask those responsible for the education of impressionable young minds, “Are Dr.
Upham’s the stances that UD upholds and teaches students?”

In this light, talk of “firing” seems to indicate a guilty conscience on the part of Dean Burns.
Apparently, he has admitted to his mind the idea that Upham’s conduct constitutes a fireable
offense. Such is not my purview. I am an alumna, who expresses concern about what UD
espouses and proclaims to the world. That UD, in the person of Prof. Upham (and,
apparently, Dean Burns) seems to advocate pulling back on civil rights for persons of color
and the LGBTQIA+ community is of manifest concern to those who were educated there
and to our collective understanding of how UD’s current faculty and administration are
warping it’s professed “pursuit of Truth.”

Since I have received no formal response and the undersigned on the Open Letter have been
subject to manipulation by a former professor of theirs who is now in a position of greater
authority (Interim Associate Dean), I feel that, instead of being listened to, our concerns are
being “damage-controlled” via crass political maneuvering designed to cover UD’s optics in
the matter. Again, this is not the UD I was educated at but more like the shiftiness of the
pro-Trump insurrectionists and the officials who goaded them on.

If the reader doubts my concern that UD is more and more resembling a think-tank for the
pro-Trump extremist wing of American politics, witness the additional comments of Dr.
Upham posted on social media (provided below), plus accounts of his statements in the
classes he taught. Again, this is no vendetta against Prof. Upham. After all, he went out of his
way to proclaim such views, with no provocation. He felt free and encouraged by the milieu
and position of authority provided to him by UD to proclaim these statements as righteous,
good, and true.

To reiterate, my concern is simply this: Is this the way the University of Dallas wishes to
proclaim itself to the world? Are these attitudes and encouragement of bigotry and
extremism now the espoused mission of the University?

How the Bishop, UD trustees, UD president, provost, faculty senate, and other UD
guardians respond is declaring the answer to that question. Whether such figures decide to
officially say or do something different in the immediate future is up to them. Just answer
the question, people: Is this the UD that you love, believe in, and seek to promote? Do UD
donors therein promote such as evidenced by Upham and Burns’ words/actions?
I submit that UD is better than that. That UD has gone far off-course. That immediate
measures must be taken to restore UD to its “pursuit of Truth” and purported mission to be
“the Catholic University for Independent thinkers.”

The following are additional quotations and social-media posts of UD Prof. David Upham,
plus recountings I have collected.

1) According to Upham, Rosa Parks was unjustified in her civil disobedience to Jim-
Crow segregationist local laws of her time.

As uttered here a month or so ago- I'm not even sure I'm with Rosa Parks. Certainly not
trespassers-to be distinguished from those who lawfully entered a place of public accommodation when
the law gave them the right to service. But lots of celebrated moments were not, in my opinion,
legitimate.

2) According to Prof. Upham, civil disruptions are not “legitimate”:

 Nah—“civil disruptions,” as I think what is intended here are not “legitimate.” But otherwise,
yeah.

3) Prof. Upham objects to white persons asking forgiveness from people of color:

Comparative religion study.

Like these folks in Houston, I too kneel and ask forgiveness, the last time before a fellow from West
Africa. Almost always the fellow I kneel before has skin much darker than my own. Though as a
kid, the fellows were usually of Irish extraction.

But in contrast, I begin with these words "bless me, Father, for I have sinned..." And the hearer of
my confession usually sits down. He doesn't stand over me. And there's never been a suggestion that I
should apologize for my (admittedly absurdly) pale color, or for my country, or the like. I'm supposed
to confess my own personal sins.

Religious diversity, indeed. I think I'll stick with my own.

According to the following anecdotes (which, at this point, must be regarded as hearsay
but are nonetheless consistent with Upham’s above social-media posts), Upham has in-
class commented that
 • the 13th amendment which abolished slavery is unconstitutional.
• divorced women are temptresses.
• men are attracted to the virginity of women
• women want to be taken by force [promoting sexual assault of women as something
women desire]

Bethany A. Beeler
(Class of 1985)
bethanyabeeler@gmail.com
Bethanybeeler.com