During the social justice rally on September 25th, the chant “we’ll be back” erupted along the President’s wing packed with students at an impromptu sit in when Vice President for Executive Operations Gary Derr asked for more time to respond to the demands presented to him. The message was clear: addressing racism at UVM cannot wait, and there are students, faculty and staff who will not remain silent. The rally attracted media attention from the Burlington Free Press and USA Today, but the administration has been slow to provide a substantive and adequate response. The demands ranged from increased funding for identity based centers, to rigorous diversity trainings for all staff and faculty, to renovation of UVM’s Diversity courses, to renaming the Perkins building and the Bailey Howe Library. Over a month has passed since that initial rally, and the conversation is far from silenced. Though the administration has not been especially cooperative and the President’s response to the demands was weak at best, they were discussed at length in a forum the following weekend which provided students with opportunities to share their experiences and ideas about the demands with a number of Deans and other administrators who also attended. On Indigenous People’s Day, a well attended event about Decolonization was organized in collaboration with the Wabunowin Dawn Society. Tonight, L/L 216 was packed with a diverse crowd of students, faculty, staff, and administrators for a student led teach in about the racial justice demands. The collaborative atmosphere generated by articulate explanation of the revised demands by members of the coalition of student leaders and candid feedback from participants fuelled a sense of progress and hope that reverberated throughout the room. With representatives from United Academics, Greek Life leaders, and a plethora of departments, clubs, and organizations across campus, the teach in was an affirmation of the widespread support for addressing the gaping discrepancy between UVM’s stated values about diversity and inclusion and the lived experiences of students with marginalized identities across campus. Bureaucratic red tape and complex systems of power and privilege that diffuse responsibility for continued racism and injustice at UVM are no small hurdle to effectively implementing the demands discussed at the teach in tonight. For the group gathered in L/L tonight, however, these obstacles only galvanize further collaboration, action, research and increase our resilience. In the words of senior Jordan Quiles, a member of the Black Student Union, “Things have progressed to a state where I feel a lot better...We can move forward on the very difficult task of triangulating these demands into actionable strategy.” |