A group of Yale faculty members have signed a letter supporting two colleagues at the center of massive campus protests.

Nicholas and Erika Christakis had been maligned on campus — even surrounded and shouted at by protesters — over an email that Erika sent prior to Halloween suggesting that students simply look away from costumes they deem offensive rather than creating a set of rules about what is and isn’t acceptable to wear. Protesters demanded that Erika resign and then demanded the same of Nicholas because he defended his wife.