To many Daniel Handler is a children’s book hero, the lauded author behind the wildly popular Unfortunate Events books. His alma mater (and mine), Wesleyan University, has asked him to be the speaker at commencement this year. But Handler’s history is hardly sterling. With past transgressions including racist remarks and sexually inappropriate remarks, his presence at commencement will tarnish the schools reputation and send a message that Wesleyan lacks respect for its students and alumni and especially their graduating class.
I wrote the school asking them to rescind Mr. Handler’s invitation and sever any other professional ties with him. My letter is below. If you are similarly concerned by Mr. Handler’s behavior, I urge you, lover of children’s books, teacher, parent, student, maybe even fellow Wes alum, to also reach out to Wesleyan University and let them know you feel they are making a grievous mistake.
You can email the school at: presoffice@wesleyan.edu.
Dear President Roth,
I am a Wesleyan alum, class of ’99. I am writing you to request that the university rescind its invitation to Daniel Handler to speak at commencement and furthermore replace him as judge for the Hamilton Prize for Creativity.
Mr. Handler, on more than one occasion, has shown a lack of judgment, compassion and understanding. Both his public remarks and less public inappropriate “jokes” have demonstrated that he is an unsuitable choice for any situation allowing him to represent Wesleyan. While certainly the university has no control over the choices made by its graduates, it does indeed control whether or not they choose to continue the association beyond what is afforded all alumni.
My first awareness of Mr. Handler’s behavior came at the National Book Awards in 2014. The winner of the award was Jacqueline Woodson for her wonderful book Brown Girl Dreaming. After she spoke, Mr. Handler came to the stage for a few remarks. Here is the clip, he comes on around the one minute mark: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4515640/daniel-handler-watermelon. As you can see, his commentary was racist in tone. Please read Ms. Woodson’s own piece on the effect his words had on her: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/opinion/the-pain-of-the-watermelon-joke.html. During my years at Wesleyan the school made it very clear that racism was not to be tolerated. One year a senior male had used a racist slur during a fight. He was subsequently expelled. While there may have been other factors in his expulsion, the message was crystal: Wesleyan University will not stand for students to be disparaged due to race. Has the school changed its entire philosophy in the past 20 years? Does Wesleyan now not only permit but endorse and reward racist behavior? Handler issued an apology, but an apology does not restore Ms. Woodson’s experience on that evening. If perhaps the legacy of the school as a bastion of social justice and equality does not stir you, the realization that many potential applicants will now rule out Wesleyan due to your endorsement of Mr. Handler should. These are students who will have grown up with Ms. Woodson’s work, reading it in school, honoring her. Students will know that Wesleyan chose to celebrate a white man who would use his power (intentionally or not) at the expense of a black women.
Recently, in light of #metoo, Handler’s name has again been raised. Many details can be found in this article: https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-will-publishing-deal-with-lemony-snicket-amid-metoo. I urge you to follow the links so as to read the exact comments detailing Mr. Handler’s behavior. Having attended Wesleyan, I have always looked to the university to be leading the way on justice issues. I have expected them to be the first to stand with women, with minorities, with any marginalized group. It would pain me greatly be wrong on that score. Choosing Handler as speaker is not just a failure to lead the way, it is a failure to join a powerful national movement demanding accountability. Based on Handler’s actions, he should not be given the opportunity to address our students. But even more disturbing to me perhaps is the juxtaposition of Handler as speaker while the school chooses to honor Anita Hill. I am old enough that I recollect the Clarence Thomas hearings where Ms. Hill became a pioneer in the movement to have sexual harassment recognized for the unacceptable behavior that it is. Any honor to Ms. Hill must be diminished by Mr. Handler’s presence. How can you thank her for what she has done while simultaneously shielding the exact type of man she risked so much to stand against?
The combination of racist comments and sexually inappropriate remarks should surely be enough to push Wesleyan to sever professional ties with Mr. Handler, but let me take a moment to call attention to the fact that in both cases, some of Mr. Handler’s transgressions took place on a very public stage: the racist remarks at the National Book Awards and at least one mention of inappropriate comments occurring at an elementary school assembly. Is Mr. Handler truly someone you can trust with the commencement speech? There will be significant fallout for the school if they go forward with allowing Mr. Handler to speak. They will have fundamentally broken the trust placed in them by students, alumni and parents. But I cannot begin to contemplate just how much that will intensify if the commencement stage becomes the setting for Handler’s next misstep. It would be naïve to think that people are not watching to see whether Handler’s apologies are the first steps in rehabilitating his reputation or simply lip service to being caught. Think of how Ms. Woodson’s moment was taken from her. Are you prepared for that to happen to all of the amazing, talented, 2018 graduates?
I came to Wesleyan from a small town, a sheltered background. Wesleyan taught me to question, to fight, to speak out against wrongs, to protest. Wesleyan should be ready. You cannot train generations of fighters and expect them to let injustice pass when it happens within your own ivied walls and storied halls.
So I ask you, President Roth, to rescind Mr. Handler’s invitation to speak, to remove him from his position as judge on the Hamilton Prize.
To borrow some words from another famous alum:
History has its eyes on you.
I look forward to hearing from you,
(My Name)
Class of ‘99
