Princeton Professors Take Down "Princeton Mom" In Amazing Open Letter

The backlash against Susan Patton, aka "Princeton Mom," has returned to the place where it all began – the school newspaper, the Daily Princetonian.

Patton, an alumna of the school, became a viral sensation when she wrote a letter to the paper urging young women attending Princeton to hurry up and land high-achieving husbands while they still had the chance.

The anti-feminist letter blew up online, and Patton landed a book deal. Her book, "Marry Smart: Advice for Finding THE ONE," came out on March 11. In an interview promoting her book, Patton downplayed the threat of rape on campus, saying that a woman being sexually assaulted should take responsibility the same way that someone should look both ways before crossing the street. Unsurprisingly, her comments didn't go over very well.

Today, a group of professors at the Ivy League school, including award-winning writer Joyce Carol Oates,  signed an open letter addressed to Patton and published in the Daily Princetonian. The letter criticized Patton and her statements:

We, the undersigned faculty, stand behind victims of sexual assault and want them to know that our campus is a place where they have a voice, where they will not be made to feel responsible and where they can find support and justice. If you have been the victim of unwanted sexual contact, under any circumstances, we can help you find the support you need from the campus groups listed below. As academics and members of the Princeton University community, these are the values we embrace. We encourage others to stand with us, for the integrity, health and well-being of all our students.

Beneath the letter were names of support groups and activist organizations connected to the Princeton campus.

Patton's insensitive comments blaming rape victims are sad and hurtful, but they are also evidence of what can happen when people get book deals as rewards for saying controversial things in public. If people had simply laughed at her initial Daily Princetonian letter and ignored it, Patton wouldn't have a public forum, nor would she have a publisher thrilled at the free publicity coming out of her repeated interviews.

Thanks to Patton's silly "Princeton Mom" nickname, an entire university – plus generations of previous graduates and future students who will have nothing to do with Patton's writings or opinions – will now have to devote time and energy to downplaying a relationship with her.

And here's the part that's extra insulting. Because of Patton's book deal, name recognition, and media tour, more people are paying attention to her than to the many intelligent academics on the Princeton campus, some of whom have studied rape and sexual assault extensively and are way more qualified to talk about it than she is. Hopefully, today's public letter can help change that.