Since the news of Richard Wolbers' arrest almost one year ago now, we have been left reeling, horrified, and intensely angry. At the same time, we have felt an amazing amount of support from our community - both from colleagues within and beyond the University of Delaware. As soon as he was arrested in October 2018, UD put him on emergency leave and barred him from campus. Between that time and his May 2018 guilty plea, as a retirement-eligible employee, he expedited his plans and has officially retired. After his guilty plea, his name was removed from the department website. His sentencing is currently scheduled for October of this year.
As UD faculty, we want our wider community to know that we have maintained openness and honesty with our students at all times while respecting the situation as it moves through the court system and the fact that this is not a UD-related crime (read: it did not happen on campus or involve any students, as far as we know). Spurred by discussions over the past few months with our students and each other, we have been working to craft a message to the broader community that shares our feelings and sentiments on the topic, while respecting University policy. Due to the recent discussions on the AIC and ECPN forums, we feel we need to expedite our statement, as silence is often more detrimental than fear of saying the wrong thing. We share that statement with you now, and although we are Winterthur/UD employees, we speak for ourselves and our personal thoughts on the matter and not for our respective employers. The revelation that Richard Wolbers was arrested, charged, and pled guilty to sexual assault of a minor has sent shock waves through the conservation community. As a small, close-knit community, many of us are struggling with feelings of confusion and betrayal. One that many of us respected and loved has done something reprehensible. Here is the link for those whoare not aware: https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/delco-man-admits-molesting-lower-providence-girl/article_38248474-780b-11e9-84d4-1b5323efd849.html. Our community has been fortunate in not having to deal with this kind of challenge but that has left us uncertain with how to proceed in this new context. Other research fields have developed some helpful strategies in situations where significant research was accomplished by members who were found guilty of unethical behavior. We can look to some of these as examples for how we can proceed. We ask AIC and the global conservation community to model a zero-tolerance policy of hateful speech and harmful behaviors in all forms. To this end we ask that Richard Wolbers' name be removed from all lists of past award recipients and bar him from participating in any future AIC affiliated events. We ask our whole community to consider strategies for how we can make use of the valuable research this person contributed without continuing to honor his name by directly referencing him. Other research communities have discontinued use of individual's names for specific work, and instead give credit to the institution where the research was done. In this upsetting and challenging context we want nonetheless to take this as an opportunity to come together as a community. We want to affirm our commitment to ethical conduct in our professional and private lives, and provide a safe space for everyone, including survivors of sexual assault and abuse. We sign this as individual members of the AIC community, irrespective of other professional affiliations, Joelle Wickens Laura Mina Lara Kaplan Lauren Fair Lauren Fair Objects Conservator and Affiliated Assistant Professor in Art Conservation Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and the University of Delaware Direct 302.888.4895 Winterthur, DE 19735 winterthur.org<http://www.winterthur.org/> ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
