17 members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities resign Friday.
After Fortune 100 CEOs, it was the turn of men and women of letters and arts to revolt against President Donald Trump over Charlottesville.
All the 17 remaining members of a White House committee on arts and humanities resigned Friday, following a week of equivocation by the president on the issue of white nationalist violence.
Those resigned from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities include two Indian Americans, actor Kal Penn and writer Jhumpa Lahiri. The mission of the committee, which was created in 1982, is to advise the president on cultural issues.
“Dear @realDonaldTrump, attached is our letter of resignation from the President’s Committee on the Arts & the Humanities @PCAH_gov,” Penn tweeted on Friday morning.
All the members that resigned Friday were nominated by Obama. Some members had resigned after Trump’s victory in November.
Besides Penn and Lahiri, others who resigned include playwright and director George C. Wolfe; painter, artist and photographer Chuck Close; and producer Eric Ortner.
“Reproach and censure in the strongest terms are necessary following your support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville,” the members prefaced the one-page letter.
In a subsequent tweet, Penn — who worked in the Obama White House — said, “All members have now resigned. Per @politico, PCAH is an official agency, that makes this the 1st White House department to resign.”
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
Earlier on Thursday members of two White House business panels had similarly resigned from their respective panels protesting against Trump, resulting in the disbanding of both committees. PepsiCo’s Indian American CEO Indra Nooyi was one of the CEOs that resigned.
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A new role for Kal Penn: at the Committee on the Arts and Humanities (November 19, 2013)
Jhumpa Lahiri to receive the 2014 National Humanities Medal from Barack Obama (September 3, 2015)