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A University of Michigan student group is lobbying the administration to designate a “permanent space on central campus for Black students and students of color to organize and do social justice work.”
The student group, Students4Justice, have made several demands this month in conjunction with campus demonstrations to put the onus on administrators. In a recently launched petition, the group claims that President Mark Schlissel has ignored their demands. Students4Justice’s demands come even as the public university is currently underway on construction for a new $10 million center for black students in the center of campus.
However, the group’s demand explains that the new black student center is not enough, “because we want a space solely dedicated to community organizing and social justice work specifically for people of color.”
“We want documentation of past, current, and future student activism and this should be a permanent space that is staffed, and has resources for students to organize and share resources.”
Campus spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said that “at this point, our colleagues in Student Life have been working with the Students4Justice leaders to better understand their concerns. This is our normal process.”
Those at the Michigan Review caught wind of the growing campus movement and criticized it in their report.
“The same organization that criticizes the University for failing to create ‘an environment that engages in diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ is calling upon the University to undermine these ideals by facilitating a sort of de facto segregation? One where space and resources are designated for students based solely on the color of their skin?’ the Review wrote. “To advocate for the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion, while simultaneously calling upon the University to sanction these spaces on campus is both unprincipled and laughably regressive.”
The group’s demands also include a call for more support for “marginalized” students “when oppressive attacks occur,” seeing more “Black, Arab, and other PoC” among tenured faculty and offering more financial aid for students who come from less affluent backgrounds.
