Re: [HoTT] Re: M. Shulman, Towards Third-Generation HOTT, April 14, 21, and 28 - HoTTEST Distinguished Lecture Series

[Andrej Bauer <andrej.bauer@andrej.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2479 bytes --]

The organizers of the HoTTest seminar did not refer explicitly to the
events that prompted them to take their decision, which leaves many people
surprised and in the dark. I worry that it may also lead to unfounded
speculation and uninformed opinions. As one of the administrators and a
HoTT book author I led an effort to bring to conclusion the episode that
the HoTTest seminar organizers implicitly referred to. Please allow me then
to give a short but incomplete account of the events of the past days as I
see it.

A while ago, there was a HoTT book pull request #1101
<https://github.com/HoTT/book/pull/1101> asking that "he or she" be
replaced with "they", for reasons of inclusivity. The ensuing discussion
took on a wider context. Mike Shulman and Dan Grayson expressed views which
the other participants strongly opposed and found offensive. Many members
of the HoTT community, including authors of the HoTT book, readers, and
students, spoke out against Mike's statements and presented reasons for
inclusivity. Some described how the issue affected them personally, which I
am sure was not easy to do. Overall the discussion was civilized, even
though emotions ran high.

The administrators of the HoTT book repository, one of whom is Mike
Shulman, unanimously decided to implement the proposed change, as it had
very clear support. In addition, Mike Shulman acknowledged that the pull
request was not an appropriate place for political discussions, and
apologized for derailing the conversation in that direction. He expressed
regret that his attempts to explain his views hurt people's feelings. He
stated that he meant no harm to anyone.

At present there is a related issue open, issue #1111
<https://github.com/HoTT/book/issues/1111>, in which a Code of conduct is
being discussed, with the purpose of making sure that such incidents do not
happen in the future, and that the community can continue to be welcoming
to everyone.

I urge anyone who intends to express an opinion to not base it solely on
what I have written here.

With kind regards,

Andrej

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Homotopy Type Theory" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to HomotopyTypeTheory+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/HomotopyTypeTheory/CAB0nkh2xM3m9A61Y5Pp5XbzH88SWSZy7gPqxkJxX%2BQTPLWXQ3w%40mail.gmail.com.

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 3089 bytes --]