Today the 17 private members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resigned from their posts. The committee was established in 1982 to advise the White House, and is comprised of administration-appointed members in the arts and culture industry as well as the heads of culture-related government agencies. The letter, which committee member Kalpen Modi (Kal Penn) posted to Twitter, is signed by all 17 of the private committee members, including architect Thom Mayne, FAIA.
Update:All members have now resigned. Per @politico, PCAH is an official agency, that makes this the 1st White House department to resign pic.twitter.com/kk7buaVr9G
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) August 18, 2017
"Reproach and censure in the strongest possible terms are necessary following your support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville," the committee notes in the letter, which is addressed to President Donald Trump.
An earlier version of the letter that Penn tweeted out around 10 a.m. today does not include George C. Wolfe's name, but a more recent version tweeted out a bit after 1 p.m. includes all 17 private committee members. (h/t Politico)
The New York Times reports: "The committee never convened under Mr. Trump, members said, and the president has not appointed members so far. The 16 who resigned Friday were appointed by President Obama and had elected to stay on under Mr. Trump, several said, to try to have an impact in his administration. More than a dozen additional committee members had resigned earlier rather than serve under Mr. Trump."
A larger version of the letter is embedded below.
