Rebecca Thomas - Director of Parent and Alumni Engagement at Stetson University
A current employee of my alma mater, Stetson University, posted this image of her and her fiance in 2016 on social media in which she is dressed as a colonial woman and she is holding him in chains.
In response to this, Stetson buried the image, asked her to remove it, and then awarded her employee of the year in January 2020.
The image has resurfaced and now there is a student-led petition to have her removed from her current position, which I completely support.
In response, Rebecca Thomas has hired an attorney that is individually sending cease and desist letters to individuals alleging they are breaking a local right of publicity law by posting the image I have shared above. The same image she shared, publicly, on her Instagram page.
The truth is - if we are truly alumni of a liberal arts college, one which respects liberal values, then this would not be a conversation we would even have to have.
I am truly disgusted by so many people in this situation but I have hope that Stetson will become an all inclusive, beautiful, thriving campus as long as we all stay involved.
In response to this, Stetson buried the image, asked her to remove it, and then awarded her employee of the year in January 2020.
The image has resurfaced and now there is a student-led petition to have her removed from her current position, which I completely support.
In response, Rebecca Thomas has hired an attorney that is individually sending cease and desist letters to individuals alleging they are breaking a local right of publicity law by posting the image I have shared above. The same image she shared, publicly, on her Instagram page.
The truth is - if we are truly alumni of a liberal arts college, one which respects liberal values, then this would not be a conversation we would even have to have.
I am truly disgusted by so many people in this situation but I have hope that Stetson will become an all inclusive, beautiful, thriving campus as long as we all stay involved.