FWIW, my own interpretation of Ben and Alissa's intervention (and I speak as a former SAA) is that it sounded very much like what the "geek feminism" web sites frequently refer to as "tone policing"[1] [1] https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/12/tone-policing-and-privilege/ If it is in fact a violation of RFC 3005, it's borderline in the extreme, at least in my opinion --- calling an idea, an action, or a policy is NOT unprofessional, at least in my opinion. And so it appeared from my vantage point to have the goal (and being successful) of shutting someone up, and getting them to stop contributing. And if we are getting distracted in to a discussion of what is and isn't unprofessional, it's a great way to stop people from discussing whether or not a mistake was made (and mistakes will get made, even by well-meaning groups of people --- some would say, *especially* when it is **groups** of people), and if so, how to move improve the system, in a blame-free manner, so that that we can have better outcomes in the future. The first step, though is to agree whether or not something bad has happened. And it seems abundantly clear that many people are unwilling to admit that perhaps "mistakes were made", and that in fact, perhaps we *should* improve. Best regards, - Ted
