Current Location/Status - Dec 1 2019
In late August I was trying to move ahead with a very promising research project in international relations. I was granted $20,000 in research funding from Johns Hopkins SAIS at the end of April; the first half arrived late in the summer. I am grateful to SAIS for its support. Of course, the defamation campaign that remains unchallenged in Williamsburg follows me wherever I go. I was told to leave Virginia after losing my job in process where three distinguished emeritus faculty alerted a dangerous administration of my plight, pointed to the threat my case posed to them, undermined the two faculty leaders who defended me and fought bravely for faculty rights, then changed their minds and supported the faculty they admitted were "derelict, absolutely derelict." This turned the faculty leaders against me and meant the destruction of my reputation and standing at William & Mary, which is now complete.
---------- Message ---------
From: Your Students <yourstudents1693@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2019 at 10:36 PM
Subject: former Professor David Dessler
To: <dadessler@gmail.com>
Professors and others,
We do not have details but it appears former Government professor David Dessler passed away in Texas late last night. We thought we should send word to a few of you.
Thank you.
Former William & Mary Students
From: Your Students <yourstudents1693@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2019 at 10:36 PM
Subject: former Professor David Dessler
To: <dadessler@gmail.com>
Professors and others,
We do not have details but it appears former Government professor David Dessler passed away in Texas late last night. We thought we should send word to a few of you.
Thank you.
Former William & Mary Students
--------- Message ---------
From: Your Students <yourstudents1693@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 8:11 AM
Subject: response
To: <dadess@wm.edu>
With great reluctance, we respond below to stated concerns. Professor Dessler called William & Mary home for nearly 35 years, but it appears that none of his former friends and colleagues can today even confirm news of his passing. We are writing only because of this unusual situation. Out of respect for Professor Dessler's family, we are giving only minimal information.
We would like to emphasize Professor Dessler's life and work. Through his non-profit Syntiro, Professor Dessler was putting action and structure behind the pursuit of real mental health support on the William & Mary campus. More than one of us has struggled with mental health challenges, and it was heartening to see a faculty member exploring effective, community-based solutions, and challenging a system which so often exacerbates what it is intended to help.
https://www.syntirohealth.org/
http://flathatnews.com/2018/11/27/case-for-reform-college-needs-to-reexamine-mental-health-care/
http://flathatnews.com/2018/12/05/case-for-reform-college-needs-to-reexamine-mental-health-care-part-ii/
We have passwords, permissions, power of attorney and access to Professor Dessler's email, records, etc., which we plan to use in the future. However, we feel very uncomfortable with these communications, and we are shutting down this email address. It was created for a purpose it no longer can have.
IP Address 66.70.129.xxx
Montréal, Québec, Canada
From: Your Students <yourstudents1693@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 8:11 AM
Subject: response
To: <dadess@wm.edu>
With great reluctance, we respond below to stated concerns. Professor Dessler called William & Mary home for nearly 35 years, but it appears that none of his former friends and colleagues can today even confirm news of his passing. We are writing only because of this unusual situation. Out of respect for Professor Dessler's family, we are giving only minimal information.
We would like to emphasize Professor Dessler's life and work. Through his non-profit Syntiro, Professor Dessler was putting action and structure behind the pursuit of real mental health support on the William & Mary campus. More than one of us has struggled with mental health challenges, and it was heartening to see a faculty member exploring effective, community-based solutions, and challenging a system which so often exacerbates what it is intended to help.
https://www.syntirohealth.org/
http://flathatnews.com/2018/11/27/case-for-reform-college-needs-to-reexamine-mental-health-care/
http://flathatnews.com/2018/12/05/case-for-reform-college-needs-to-reexamine-mental-health-care-part-ii/
We have passwords, permissions, power of attorney and access to Professor Dessler's email, records, etc., which we plan to use in the future. However, we feel very uncomfortable with these communications, and we are shutting down this email address. It was created for a purpose it no longer can have.
IP Address 66.70.129.xxx
Montréal, Québec, Canada
p.s. We do not wish to end on a sad note, so we attach a video Prof Dessler made for us. We feel it is appropriate here. Again, we wish to stress his life and his work, especially for students. We learned a great deal from him and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to take his classes in college.
On September 8, 2016, without my permission, and 24 hours after I had objected to part of the text being prepared, Feiss, Slevin, and Meyers wrote:
We write to bring this matter to your attention with the expectation that the large and clear threat to academic freedom at William and Mary will compel the
strongest and most urgent response from the Faculty.
In all our years of service at the College, these actions constitute the most egregious evisceration of the Faculty Handbook that we have seen and indeed could imagine. We see unconscionable actions taken to fire him without regard for the existing and appropriate procedures spelled out in the Handbook.
If Professor Dessler is deprived of his rights in this matter, if the procedures of the Faculty Handbook are simply thrown out the window, faculty rights at the College are indeed under an existential threat and in jeopardy for each and every member of the College faculty. Each would be subject to arbitrary and extrajudicial treatment, with all the implications that would entail.
We cannot overstate the seriousness of this matter and the danger currently existing to the rights of faculty members at the College of William and Mary.
| message_from_cathy_re_exec_comm__nov_1_2016__plus_fsm.pdf |
| the_new_fsm.pdf |
CERTIFICATE OF DEATH
In late August, I downloaded this
actual (real, genuine) death certificate for Clark Minard Thompson of Houston, Texas. Mr. Thompson was 77 years old. He was born on December 7, 1910. He died on October 18, 1988. The cause of death: heart attack. And he had pneumonia. He was survived by his wife (it says "married").
In late August, I downloaded this
actual (real, genuine) death certificate for Clark Minard Thompson of Houston, Texas. Mr. Thompson was 77 years old. He was born on December 7, 1910. He died on October 18, 1988. The cause of death: heart attack. And he had pneumonia. He was survived by his wife (it says "married").