Semantically, you could have said the same thing in far less muckrakey language - ‘Remmelt has posted widely criticised work’, for example. Yes, that’s less specific, but it’s also more important—the idea that someone should be discredited because someone said a bad thing about something they wrote is disturbingly bad epistemics.
Etymologically, your definition of an ad hominem is wrong—it can also be about attacking their circumstances. Obviously circumstances can have evidential importance, but I think it’s also poor epistemics to describe them without drawing the explicit line of inference to your conclusion—e.g. ‘Remmelt has posted and linked to widely criticised and controversial work. Will that that be represented on the curriculum?’
If you think the curriculum was or is likely to be bad, you should say that—and preferably give some specific reasons why, beyond the inferences above. Maybe just extend a tiny principle of charity when thinking about how to people who are doing their best to make the world better, and have a track record of decent work which they’ve almost certainly done for far less pay and job security than you have.
You can do all of the above and still raise at least as strong and clear questions about whether the project deserves funding.
Semantically, you could have said the same thing in far less muckrakey language - ‘Remmelt has posted widely criticised work’, for example. Yes, that’s less specific, but it’s also more important—the idea that someone should be discredited because someone said a bad thing about something they wrote is disturbingly bad epistemics.
Etymologically, your definition of an ad hominem is wrong—it can also be about attacking their circumstances. Obviously circumstances can have evidential importance, but I think it’s also poor epistemics to describe them without drawing the explicit line of inference to your conclusion—e.g. ‘Remmelt has posted and linked to widely criticised and controversial work. Will that that be represented on the curriculum?’
If you think the curriculum was or is likely to be bad, you should say that—and preferably give some specific reasons why, beyond the inferences above. Maybe just extend a tiny principle of charity when thinking about how to people who are doing their best to make the world better, and have a track record of decent work which they’ve almost certainly done for far less pay and job security than you have.
You can do all of the above and still raise at least as strong and clear questions about whether the project deserves funding.