This was a special ceremony. The important part is at the end, when President Tim Sullivan hands Jon Stewart his Honorary Doctorate and says that no graduate is more deserving than Jon, and no awarding of this degree has reflected better on the College. The president's statement to close the ceremony is truly moving and historically unprecedented.
THE WTKR STORY: WHAT IS IT, AND WHAT DID IT REVEAL?
William & Mary undergraduates are the best in the world.
The data showing this are clear. Pick an area where you can measure student quality by performance. W&M students win. And by a large margin.
When universities are ordered by criteria that include something other than ability, you get different results. Look at this.
Fall 2013 North America College Rankings (World Division)
1. University of Chicago
2. Harvard University
3. Georgetown University
4. New York University
5. Florida International University
6. United States Military Academy at West Point
7. Columbia University
8. Yale University
9. McGill University
10. University of California, Berkeley
11. Claremont McKenna College
12. University of Miami
13. Emory University
14. The George Washington University
15. Princeton University
16. University of Pennsylvania
17. Vanderbilt University
18. The College of William & Mary
19. Stanford University
20. Rutgers University
Now, let's assess by performance. Here are all the North American teams that won a best delegation award at the Harvard World MUN Championships, held all over the globe, with teams from dozens of countries.
The data showing this are clear. Pick an area where you can measure student quality by performance. W&M students win. And by a large margin.
When universities are ordered by criteria that include something other than ability, you get different results. Look at this.
Fall 2013 North America College Rankings (World Division)
1. University of Chicago
2. Harvard University
3. Georgetown University
4. New York University
5. Florida International University
6. United States Military Academy at West Point
7. Columbia University
8. Yale University
9. McGill University
10. University of California, Berkeley
11. Claremont McKenna College
12. University of Miami
13. Emory University
14. The George Washington University
15. Princeton University
16. University of Pennsylvania
17. Vanderbilt University
18. The College of William & Mary
19. Stanford University
20. Rutgers University
Now, let's assess by performance. Here are all the North American teams that won a best delegation award at the Harvard World MUN Championships, held all over the globe, with teams from dozens of countries.
As the video reveals, in the 15 years since the World MUN started giving out two "best delegation" per year instead of one--this practice started in 2005--U.S. teams have won 13 of them.
Only five universities account for those 13 awards: Claremont McKenna College, West Point, William & Mary, Georgetown, and Washington University at St Louis. Claremont McKenna has won five. West Point has won three. William & Mary has won three. Georgetown won its first in 2014 in Brussels. Washington Univ (St Louis) won its first in 2017 in Montreal. That year, West Point was second, Claremont McKenna third, and W&M fourth.
Only five universities account for those 13 awards: Claremont McKenna College, West Point, William & Mary, Georgetown, and Washington University at St Louis. Claremont McKenna has won five. West Point has won three. William & Mary has won three. Georgetown won its first in 2014 in Brussels. Washington Univ (St Louis) won its first in 2017 in Montreal. That year, West Point was second, Claremont McKenna third, and W&M fourth.
aS Why does William & Mary do so well? Interestingly, W&M is the only university in the top 25 schools above to not have an Model United Nations Club. There is an International Relations Club, and each year they organize themselves. They pick head delegate and the rest of the team, they prepare, and they go. No professors participate. No coaches. None of what you find at Claremont McKenna and Georgetown, for example.
How does W&M win? Part of the competition is team competition--it depends on preparation and coaching. And part is individual competition. And the data reveal that W&M undergraduates are the best in the world. I don't care what university you attend, what your SAT scores were, any of that, if you are a college student at an MUN championship and you are in the individual competition phase, you do not want to face a student from William & Mary.
At W&M, no one notices. The students themselves do not think it's such a big deal. I do not point this out to them. Look at the coverage in the W&M News. Look at Zann's comment at the end. I remember her. She's front row, right, purple dress.
She just thought that was a great way to end her MUN career.
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Model United Nations team triumphs at 2013 world conference
by Kevin Kosanovich, Graduate Assistant, Reves Center for International Studies | April 1, 2013
Zann Isacson ’13, was W&M’s head delegate. The other members of the team were Matt Hartill ’15, Katie Mitchell ’13, Austin May ’13, Alexcia Chambers ’16, Jeff Rohde ’14, Natalie Roberts ’14, Iman Shakeri ’14 and Tom Scott Sharoni ’15.
This year’s WorldMUN was hosted by students from Harvard University as well as Monash University in Melbourne.
Isacson, an international relations and economics double major, began prepping the delegation in January, creating delegation scenarios, considering the most pressing world issues, and trying to consider every possible situation that his delegation would encounter after being assigned by the MUN to “represent” South Africa and Panama in the competition.
“From January through March, the team met for six hours a week,” she said. “We developed position defenses, public speaking preparation and team dynamic evaluation. In addition, each team met separately to prepare their own research.”
Isacson has been an active participant in Model United Nations for nine years, or since she was an eighth-grader. She has an obvious interest in international relations.
“To win the Best Small Delegation award at WorldMUN as head delegate is the best way I can imagine to end my MUN career,” she said.
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THE DATA ARE CLEAR. William & Mary undergraduates outperform undergraduates at other universities. Pick a category and look.
How about entertainment. W&M sometimes has alumni give commencement speeches. The video at the top features Jon Stewart. He spoke in 2004. He was a Government major. His name was Jon Liebowitz, as I recall. In two months, another graduate in show business will speak at commencement. She graduated eleven years before Jon. She majored in Anthropology. And Theater. We have lots of double majors. Glenn Close.
I do not want to release the data, but it is clear, there is no doubt, William & Mary undergraduates are the best in the world.
The question is, WHY?
I do have an answer. It is in the culture they created. Called: Tribe. Part of that culture is this attitude: "I am not exceptional."
See Jon Stewart's speech to the 2004 graduates.
Hopefully, no one will convince W&M undergraduates they are exceptional. They are, but they don't think so. That's part of what makes them so gifted.
The culture at universities matters a great deal to the students.
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March 27, 2019
On this page is a report broadcast on WTKR 3 in Feb 2017. I am posting here and pointing out the obvious: it proves my case. It identifies the villain. PLUS the story makes clear that the faculty at W&M do not pay attention to the students or care about their suffering. I have made this last point in part by waiting two years to emphasize to the world--look at what these students did, look at their suffering, and note that there has been no response from the faculty for two years.
Business as usual.
Because this video will, at some point, perhaps soon, have a major impact on campus, I am leaving. There is a new arrest campaign against me now and I do not want students targeted. I will be at my trial on April 4. And I am leaving.
Please pass the word to anyone on campus scared enough to order my arrest again, "Your worry is not David or his students." Make an announcement.
Find the people who are scared to death of me right now and tell them that I have exited and their worry is not me. Or any students. I am stepping aside and they are doing homework.
The full truth of this episode will soon be revealed. And the truth is, in the fall of 2015. I was teaching and also in in a leadership role with regard to student mental health and undergraduate research when I was forced off campus and subjected to a brutal campaign of defamation, deprivation, isolation, and coercion, all meant to destroy my reputation and my standing at W&M, and all this has been known on campus since the Fall of 2016.
That last part will create challenges for some. I will not be around to witness the consequences. My work is done.
I thank the undergraduates at the College of William & Mary.
THE WTKR BROADCAST OF FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Here are the two accounts of what happened to me:
- My account is that everything in my work at the school was going well in the fall of 2015. I was teaching and also in in a leadership role with regard to student mental health and undergraduate research when I was forced off campus and subjected to a brutal campaign of defamation, deprivation, isolation, and coercion, all meant to destroy my reputation and my standing at W&M. This campaign used false arrest as its main weapon, and was intended to stop me from pursuing the mental health initiative, and for no other reason.
- The school's account is that I became unable to teach and behaved in a manner that scared students, so I had to be relieved. I was embittered by not being allowed to keep teaching and as a result I wrote threatening emails to College officials protesting its policies. The university had to arrest me several times for these actions. However, it was always focused on my well-being. Its focus was my underlying health condition.
The TV report of February 17, 2017 falsifies the school's account and confirms mine. In the school's account, there are no students who cannot find their professor. In my account, I don't know what the students know, and they don't know what I know. Also, in my account, the students are ignored. And indeed, here they are.
Look at the students in this report. They are "upset" and "concerned." They find the situation "very upsetting." What is upsetting and what concerns them? That the school won't communicate with them. There is little or no information. They want answers and no one "in the department they study in" will give them answers, leaving them so frustrated and upset that they have come to a TV station.
The students at William & Mary are marginalized and ignored by faculty, their rights are denied, and their suffering is met with indifference.
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Faculty indifference to the suffering of students is an old story.
THE THEME OF STUDENT SUFFERING AND FACULTY INDIFFERENCE IS ESPECIALLY PRONOUNCED
ON THE ISSUE OF STUDENT SUICIDE
From a news report of a meeting in April 2015 that the Board decided to attend. It was after the fourth suicide, which was shattering. Look at what was said.
Regarding the university’s response to suicides, students at the Board meeting voiced concerns about experiencing silence on the deaths from staff and faculty and a “business-as-usual” atmosphere on campus.
“For a lot of students, this might be the first time experiencing death in their life,” said former Student Assembly President Colin Danly ’15. “You’re faced with these big questions of life when you first experience a death that’s close to you. If you have no one around you that realizes that and acknowledges that someone has passed away, it’s not just disrespectful, it really kind of messes with your head, like what is the point if no one takes a moment to say, ‘This person has left’?”
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This TV report makes absolutely clear that there is some kind of campaign against Dessler on the W&M campus. And it must be a frightening one. Dessler has been arrested. Could it be that the arrests are part of the campaign? That would mean, people on campus who supported him would be afraid of speaking up. He might have broad support but outsiders will never know because those who support him are afraid to speak up. And the world will conclude, Dessler went crazy, got arrested, and that was that.
Suppose a group said:
"We need to stop this. Let's get on TV. Let's announce to the world, 'Hey, this professor who is well-known here as a good person, who genuinely cares for students, who the students love, has just disappeared and has been arrested and the students have just learned that when he was removed from teaching, he was banned from campus and from communicating with them! This was 16 months ago. They were only told, there was 'an incident.' They wanted him to be their teacher, as that department knows. But in that department, and elsewhere, no one will talk about him. People seem to accept the bad things said about him."
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Hey, world!
This is what happened. The students made just this plan and it took tremendous bravery to carry it out.
And they had nothing to gain. Zero. Except the knowledge that they did all they could if Dessler never returned. They are standing up for themselves here. And that means defending Prof Dessler, because he represents their values. Here is the last entry in ratemyprofessors.com for Dessler, just a few months before being removed from campus by force:
RESPECTED CARING INSPIRATIONAL
I have had Dessler for two classes now and he is great. He genuinely cares about students and goes out of his way to be helpful. Dessler represents everything WM: smart, humble, quirky, and humorous. – 05/27/2015
Dessler's account is this:
"I was forced off campus and subjected to a brutal campaign of defamation, deprivation, isolation, and coercion, all meant to destroy my reputation and my standing at W&M. This campaign used false arrest as its main weapon, and was intended to stop me from pursuing the mental health initiative, and for no other reason."
The school's account is this:
"I became unable to teach and behaved in a manner that scared students, so I had to be relieved. I was embittered by not being allowed to keep teaching and as a result I wrote threatening emails."
What proves Dessler's account and falsifies the school's?
It's not what the students say, though what they say makes it almost certain that Dessler's account is right.
It's what you see in the report. It is the obvious fear on campus. The students are hiding their faces. Only one will risk having his voice recorded.
Only by going on TV could the students make it clear my account was right. Though they did not know it was my account. They just thought I had become mentally ill. They do know, of course, the university opposes me, and if you oppose the university, you are in big, big trouble. So they are very careful to hide their identities.
MARCH 27, 2019
That appearance on WTKR was more than two years ago. It is shocking: it proves the case the professor is making, that he is being destroyed by defamatory arrest. It falsifies the case the school is making.
Of course, only on the campus of William & Mary did anyone know that these were the two cases. So only on campus would people see: "Oh, this proves Dessler is correct. Look at those students."
For the faculty, this conclusion was now unavoidable. Dessler was at this time, and for months before, writing the faculty and telling them what is going on. They know the fear. They know people are being arrested. And they know they are the only group who can do anything about it. They simply have to march down to the administration and say, Stop this!"
Question, then: Why did the faculty do nothing? The facts verifying Dessler's account are on that TV broadcast. In the future, people will see, the faculty did know that Dessler was right. Why did they not act?
Perhaps because they didn't recognize what the students had done. Indifference.
It is March 27, 2019.
I am leaving. I have done my part. Please do not hurt any more students. Pass the word. Thank you.
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Here is what the students said to Kim Cung, at great risk to their welfare:
(1) We wanted him as our teacher in Oct 2015. He was removed. We asked, "Why?" We were told, "An incident. There was an administrative intervention." We were very upset.
(2) Then we learned last summer he was arrested for threatening a department chair. Is this related to the incident? What was this incident? What was happening? There is no information and no communication about this professor at the College. When we ask, "Does he still work here," we are told, "Yes." And his bio remains on the website.
(3) Now we learn he has been arrested again. In trying to learn what was going on, one of us found out that Dessler was banned from campus since the week he was removed. He was also banned from contacting students. What is the reason for this ban? Why can't he write us? We are told only: an incident. An administrative intervention. He was removed from teaching, banned from campus, and banned from contacting us. We don't think this makes sense. He taught here for 32 years.
(4) He told his class in 2015 at the start of the semester that he has been seriously mentally ill before and he said he might be again, you never know. Everyone on campus knows about Prof Dessler. He is very kind. He genuinely cares for students. Everyone knows that. Look at ratemyprofessors.com. We have never heard anything bad about him. We have only heard good things about him. He suffers from a mental illness.
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Recall the last entry in ratemyprofessors.com for Dessler, just a few months before being removed from campus by force:
RESPECTED CARING INSPIRATIONAL
I have had Dessler for two classes now and he is great. He genuinely cares about students and goes out of his way to be helpful. Dessler represents everything WM: smart, humble, quirky, and humorous. – 05/27/2015
Here is the next to last entry:
Dessler is awesome. Everyone that takes him loves him, and for good reason. He's hilarious, knowledgeable, and interesting. Seriously, take his class. – 01/06/2015
And these are the best college students in the world.
Please respect them.
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MARCH 27, 2019
Since crisis started: 3 years, 5 months, 8 days
Since loss of job, pay, benefits: 2 years, 7 months, 20 days
Having only opponents: 1 year, 9 months, 25 days
Since crisis started: 3 years, 5 months, 8 days
Since loss of job, pay, benefits: 2 years, 7 months, 20 days
Having only opponents: 1 year, 9 months, 25 days