President of Student Union
Posted by elipaintedcrow on Friday, September 2, 2011
Ms. PaintedCrow,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is Sasha Ahuja and I am a graduating student at the School of Social Work at Columbia University and the President of our Student Union. Like many others, I have been so moved by your narrative and your words, both before and after reading Lonely Soldier, and am reaching out to you to verify the following information that I heard through the grapevines.
I was told by a friend that members of her group contacted you with regards to the use of your photo for the purpose of the Capstone final project that we have all been assigned to complete. She informed me that you had said responded saying that you were not aware that your story was being used for the purpose of this assignment. After spending two years at this school and seeing the extent to which systems of oppression are perpetuated in harmful ways towards the very individuals, communities, stories and narratives that we hope to learn from with honor and respect, the fact that you were not informed of your story being used for this final student project is so deeply upsetting. I am sorry that we, the students, were not informed of this earlier.
If this is all the case, I am reaching out to you to ask how we can proceed. I know that if more students are aware of the above information, they will choose not to proceed with the assignment. I would love to speak with you at length about this if you have the capacity. I am more than happy to speak on the phone (516 698 7157 - or at a number that I can reach you) or via e-mail.
I hope to hear from you at your convenience.
In peace and strength,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is Sasha Ahuja and I am a graduating student at the School of Social Work at Columbia University and the President of our Student Union. Like many others, I have been so moved by your narrative and your words, both before and after reading Lonely Soldier, and am reaching out to you to verify the following information that I heard through the grapevines.
I was told by a friend that members of her group contacted you with regards to the use of your photo for the purpose of the Capstone final project that we have all been assigned to complete. She informed me that you had said responded saying that you were not aware that your story was being used for the purpose of this assignment. After spending two years at this school and seeing the extent to which systems of oppression are perpetuated in harmful ways towards the very individuals, communities, stories and narratives that we hope to learn from with honor and respect, the fact that you were not informed of your story being used for this final student project is so deeply upsetting. I am sorry that we, the students, were not informed of this earlier.
If this is all the case, I am reaching out to you to ask how we can proceed. I know that if more students are aware of the above information, they will choose not to proceed with the assignment. I would love to speak with you at length about this if you have the capacity. I am more than happy to speak on the phone (516 698 7157 - or at a number that I can reach you) or via e-mail.
I hope to hear from you at your convenience.
In peace and strength,
