Presidential hopeful and former senator John Edwards expressed support for the living wage campaign on Vanderbilt's campus in a letter dated Feb. 12 to Chancellor Gordon Gee.

Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for Edwards's campaign, confirmed the letter's authenticity Sunday.

"I understand that Vanderbilt employees, students, religious leaders, labor leaders, and community residents have joined together to take up this cause of simple fairness," Edwards wrote. "I support their efforts and I hope you will join us."

In his letter, the former senator pointed out other universities including Harvard, Georgetown and Yale that had established a living wage on their campus within the last few years.

In response, Gee wrote a four-point letter addressed to Edwards.

"While we are optimistic that Vanderbilt and the union will eventually reach a mutually agreeable position, I do want to be clear about several important points that, unfortunately, have been either ignored or distorted in the rhetoric that has been generated around the issue," Gee wrote.

In the letter, Gee wrote "no other employer in this regions offers a wide array of benefits to all employees, along with the safety, security and stability of working for a major research university and health care provider."

He also said comparisons to other institutions that have experienced similar protests are "not particularly valid."

"In almost all of those cases, maintenance and service staff were actually employed by contractors and thus are not employees of the university, receiving none of the benefits and protections that come with full-time permanent employment," Gee wrote.

The university is currently in negotiations with a local union representing 600 of its lowest-paid workers. The union turned down an offer made by Vanderbilt in mid-December that would have increased the base wage to $10 per hour within a year.

Both sides have agreed to enter into a nonbinding mediation with a federal negotiator to begin Feb. 26.

Read Edwards's letter and Gee's response, attached.