Dear Dr. Hawkins:

It is with great concern that we learned that Talladega College has agreed to send its marching band to participate in the inaugural festivities of President-Elect Donald Trump.

Our parents, Donald and Lore Rasmussen, taught at Talladega College from 1942 to 1955, and we, their three sons, spent our early years living in a small white house that used to sit between your home and Derricotte House. During those years, our parents devoted themselves to their students and to the challenges of living in a segregated South, while we grew up attending Sessions School, the College’s multi-racial elementary/middle school. It was a happy time for us during which we formed our core values.

Our mother was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, and she found her way to the United States to escape the exact same policies as those espoused by Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions. She studied at Columbia University for one semester, but she quit in disgust when she discovered that Columbia had distinguished itself by being one of the few American universities to curry favor with Hitler’s government by taking part in the 1937 celebration of the 550th anniversary of Heidelberg University in Germany.

In 2003, both Dr. and Mrs. Rasmussen were proud recipients of Honorary Doctorate Degrees in Humane Letters from Talladega College. In the presentation of their degrees, President Henry Ponder noted their “untiring fight to ensure the human dignity of all persons” and that “at great personal peril [they had] led the struggle for civil rights.”

Both of our parents have passed away since receiving this cherished recognition from the College. But we have no doubt that they would be angered and deeply disappointed if they knew of the plans for Talladega College to pay tribute to Donald Trump by participating in his inaugural. Mr. Trump has demonstrated in innumerable ways, during the electoral campaign and his time as president-elect, that he is the antithesis of all they worked and stood for and of the values they nurtured in their students.

We are writing to advise you that to honor our parents’ memory and their life work, we, their three sons, have chosen to return their honorary degrees to Talladega College. We are certain our parents would not want them under the present circumstances.

We hope that you will reconsider your decision in recognition of the principled history of the College and of the many people, including our parents, who gave of themselves to advance the cause of social justice and equality in Talladega’s name.

Sincerely,

Peter Rasmussen
David Rasmussen
Steven Rasmussen