UVA Students Host Rally to Deliver Petition to Board of Visitors
Students demand lifetime no-trespassing orders against all white supremacists at August 11 torch rally
Students, faculty, staff, and Charlottesville community members rallied today at the Rotunda, calling for the University of Virginia Board of Visitors to issue a lifetime ban against Jason Kessler and all the white supremacists who participated in the August 11 torch rally. Many students, including a survivor of the August 12 car attack, said that UVA has been slow to act in the past year and that Kessler’s no-trespass order is the direct result of community activism.
After the rally, a group of students sat in on the open portion of the Board of Visitors meeting. As the closed session was about to begin, the students distributed a petition (below) to the members of the Board present. One student announced to the room “banning Jason Kessler is a good start, but he needs to be banned for life, and you need to start banning other white supremacists before they come back.”
Watch live video of the rally speakers and see the @solidcville twitter thread.
Comments from students and alumni:
“On August 11th, Jason Kessler and his torch-wielding mob threatened and physically harmed students, faculty, staff, and community members. All of the white supremacists from that night are a serious threat to the safety of the community, and UVA has not done enough to effectively remedy the ongoing danger they pose.” — Sarah Pape, 2nd year undergraduate
“A four-year ban for one white supremacist is not enough. Students and faculty need to continue to put pressure on the University to ban Jason Kessler for life, and ban other nazis like Chris Cantwell and Richard Spencer for life as well.” — Hannah Russell-Hunter, 2nd year undergraduate
“We want to see our University clearly support student safety in the face of white supremacist violence. Students who are survivors of the white supremacist attacks on August 11–12, and all marginalized students whose existence is threatened by the fascist goal of a white ethno-state, are traumatized all over again every time one of these Nazis is on campus and every time we have to beg UVA to choose us over white supremacy.” — Ibby Han, Class of 2017
Text of Student Petition to UVA
To Teresa Sullivan, the Board of Visitors, and the rest of the University administration,
On August 11th and 12th, 2017, the city of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia experienced the largest gathering of hate groups that the United States has seen in over 15 years. These white nationalist groups, led by UVa alumni Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler among others, initiated acts of violence and intimidation that resulted in lasting physical and emotional trauma for many students and community members.
Pushed into the international spotlight by these horrific events, the University was presented with an opportunity to wholly condemn white supremacy. Thus far, it has failed to do so.
In the months following August 11th and 12th, Jason Kessler has returned to Grounds multiple times. He has visited the UVa Law Library twice in the past week alone, escorted by University Police (UPD) on both occasions. This man led a torch-lit mob of hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and Soil” and attacking students, employees, and community members. Kessler poses a danger to the University community, especially people of color, and his very presence provokes emotional distress for many. Despite this, UPD offered him protection and the administration neglected to alert the student body either time Kessler was on Grounds, blatantly disregarding its duty to keep the community safe. This is unacceptable. How can the administration boast of a “community of trust” when it prioritizes Jason Kessler’s safety over that of its own students, faculty, and staff?
The administration’s actions speak louder than its silence regarding these incidents. During Kessler’s second appearance this week, UPD arrested a community member, Eric Martin, for trespassing when he took a stance against Kessler — a stance the University refuses to take. Kessler, on the other hand, was escorted out after a private session with a librarian “like some sort of celebrity”, in the words of one law student. The double standard is clear. The administration has demonstrated its complicity in white supremacy by failing to disavow it and actively suppressing efforts to oppose it.
The University has currently issued a four year no-trespassing order against Kessler. This is not enough. We demand that the University drop the charges and the no-trespassing order against Eric Martin and instead issue lifetime no-trespassing orders against the people who desecrated our sacred Grounds: Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer, Eli Moseley, Christopher Cantwell, and all other white supremacists identified from the August 11 torch-lit rally, and any identified in the future. These hateful racists wreaked havoc on our Grounds in August, and they continue to undermine the safety and emotional stability of students and community members with each appearance or online threat that they make. It is the University’s moral obligation to denounce white supremacy and its responsibility to protect the community. We demand that UVa take concrete steps to ensure not only our security, but the future security of people who have historically been targeted by white supremacy, especially as the one year anniversary of August 11th and 12th approaches. If the administration remains loudly silent in the face of white supremacy, it will perpetuate the University’s painful and pervasive history of racial violence.
We sign to unify our voices in demanding that this institution disavow white supremacy and make concrete efforts to secure the safety of the whole student body with its plethora of identities and respective intersectionalities. We sign in solidarity with all students, faculty, employees, and community members victimized by white supremacy.
Sincerely,
Concerned UVa Students
Endorsements:
Political Latinxs United for Movement & Action in Society (PLUMAS)
Black Student Alliance (BSA)
Latinx Student Alliance (LSA)
Afro-Latinx Student Organization (ALSO)
DREAMers on Grounds
Black Student Research Network (BSRN)
Organization of Young Filipino Americans (OYFA)
Diversity in Nursing for a Better Community (DNBC)
