• President: Dr. Elizabeth Kiss
  president@union.edu, 

• Human Resources:
  hr@union.edu

• VP of Human Resources: Darcy Czajka
  czajkad@union.edu

• Senior Executive Assistant to the President: Pamela Guidi
  guidip@union.edu

• Secretary to the Board of Trustees: Blair Raymond
  raymondb@union.edu
• The UNION COLLAGE. HR Director – Jennifer L. Blessing – Sr. Director of Benefits and HR Systems
  blessinj@union.edu

Others to CC:

• dof@union.edu
• wangj@union.edu
• carneys@union.edu
• gasparoe@union.edu

Dear President of Union College,

Members of the Board of Trustees,

and Senior Administration,

I am writing to demand an immediate ethical review of the employment of Leila Khatami, daughter of Seyed Mohammad Khatami, former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1997–2005).

Mr. Khatami served as head of state of a regime that, during his presidency, carried out systematic and well-documented human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, and violent suppression of dissent.

These are not allegations—they are documented facts reported by international human rights organizations:

• The “Chain Murders” (1998–1999), in which Iranian writers, intellectuals, and political dissidents were assassinated by state-linked agents, occurred under Khatami’s presidency.
  Sources: Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International; Reporters Without Borders.
• The July 1999 student protests were violently crushed by security forces, resulting in deaths, mass arrests, torture, and forced confessions.
  Sources: Amnesty International, “Iran: A Continuing Pattern of Human Rights Violations”; Human Rights Watch World Reports.
• Throughout Khatami’s tenure, Iran continued widespread use of political imprisonment, torture, and executions, with no meaningful accountability for perpetrators.
  Sources: Amnesty International Annual Reports (1997–2005); UN Special Rapporteur on Iran.

Despite his international branding as a “reformist,” Mr. Khatami neither dismantled nor held accountable the security and intelligence structures responsible for these crimes. Survivors, families of victims, and Iranian civil society overwhelmingly regard that period as one of impunity and betrayal, not reform.

Union College publicly claims commitment to human dignity, ethical leadership, and social responsibility. Employing the immediate family member of a former head of state associated with such atrocities—without transparency or review—creates serious moral and reputational consequences for your institution.

This is not about inherited guilt. It is about institutional ethics. Universities are global moral actors. When academic institutions normalize proximity to power structures responsible for mass repression, they send a message—intentionally or not—that those crimes can be overlooked with time, distance, or privilege.

At a moment when Iranians continue to be imprisoned, tortured, and executed by the same regime, silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.

I therefore urge Union College to:

• Conduct an immediate ethical review of this employment
• Publicly clarify its standards regarding human rights accountability
• Take action consistent with its stated values

History is watching. Victims’ families are watching. And institutions, like individuals, are judged not only by what they say—but by what they choose to tolerate.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Referenced sources (non-exhaustive):

– Amnesty International Annual Reports on Iran (1997–2005)

– Human Rights Watch, World Reports and Iran country briefs

– Reporters Without Borders, reports on Iran’s Chain Murders

– United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran—

Tags: FreedomforIran, woman life freedom