13 Demands College Students Made to Support the BLM Movement
Political debate thrives on college campuses, especially today amid Black Lives Matter protests.
With the increasing amount of young people becoming involved in politics, there has been a surge in social activist media, where social media becomes a political instrument.
The movement is booming because of social media, with student voices and experiences leading the way. Instagram pages now exist for students and alumni to anonymously air their complaints about the racism endured at the hands of their university, administrators, and peers.
All across college campuses, remotely, of course, students are voicing their concerns about racial discrimination on their campuses. Students are going as far as making demands of their universities to change their policies, practices, and personnel.
Young people must partake in politics and have a say in how their university functions. It is also essential for students to have an educated understanding of what constitutes practical solutions so that they can effect change.
I have noticed several demands from various organizations that are not practical. Impractical solutions make the students spearheading these virtual movements look weak, ill-prepared, and too extreme to be intelligently reasoned with.
There needs to a sense of decorum and reason involved if a change is to be implemented on students’ terms.
Extremists threatening mob mentality will not force anyone’s hand to make a change.
Colleges are businesses. They sell education and experience. They have a mission, a purpose, a history, and a budget. Bottom lines are the bottom line. Therefore, unsystematic student demands are not obligated to be met with any sort of results. This is why it is important to be reasonable and exact when explaining and requesting change within any organization.
Here are some of the wildest of the demands students wish to be granted, why they are unreasonable, and in some cases how they could be changed to initiate dialogue for change or what the university in question has said in response to these demands. All demands are paraphrased for privacy purposes.
1. Build or designate a multicultural center for students of color on campus to be used as a safe space.
Similar to this demand is one proposed by an anonymous Instagram account that has been deleted since I have found the list of requirements. The demand is as follows: “Physically construct new buildings designated as safe zones for BIPOC.” I have a problem with the phrase “safe space” and “safe zone” because these imply a community that is antagonistic to another group so that this group feels unsafe in an otherwise hazardous environment. I have no right to tell you not to feel threatened by the people in your community. However, if diversity is good, and studies show that diversity of thought is beneficial for productivity and empathy, then why segregate students in a place that is meant for them to learn from others outside of their home environment?
To the first demand, the University is going to comply and designate a multicultural center for students of color. But I wonder if it is ethical to separate students when the point of college is to bring together students from all walks of life to learn from each other.
2. Hire more Black men, Black women, and Black LGBTQ+ professors in fields other than African-American studies.
This demand is a difficult one to meet, although one that will benefit the student body. I’m sure there are qualified professors that meet these criteria, but if they do not apply to work somewhere, then they are not a part of the applicant pool and, therefore, will not be hired.
I appreciate how the students are explicit in defining what kinds of professors they would like to see, but to expect these individuals to be hired when they may not apply is irrational. In discussing this demand, the University is unclear about how they will address this demand.
3. Appoint administrative positions to minority individuals.
Similar to the previous, students want to see more representation of people like them in administration. Also, similar to the previous, if those individuals do not apply to work at this university, those individuals cannot be hired. It is also important to note for both demands that hiring is only necessary when a spot is open; universities, because they function like businesses, will not take on more staff if they cannot afford to. This university has not addressed fulfilling this demand.
4. The University shall not punish students arrested for protesting off-campus.
I find an issue with this demand because it is quite vague, and I am unsure about the intent of this demand. Should the university persecute students for utilizing their First Amendment right to protest? Absolutely not. But at the same time, students are a reflection of their university. So, if a student does something illegal or something that does not align with University policy, the university may have the right to take action against the individual. This action might not be direct because of protesting off-campus but might be pursued as a consequence of something related to protesting.
Blanket statements like this can cause problems because when someone breaks the law society, requires a trial and repercussions of actions to be paid.
5. Allow students to protest and organize reactivity by removing or thoroughly restructuring the University’s restrictive demonstration policy.
Yes, I included this demand, although it seemingly contradicts the previous. Universities are private property, and those in charge can make whatever reasonable rules they see fit for their property. Also, protests can become dangerous and may put the lives of students at risk. For these liability reasons, students do not seem to consider, universities can and should be allowed to write policies that fit themselves and their constituents’ best interests. The university in question has not responded to this demand.
6. Investigate Public Safety employees and their previous affiliations with the local police department.
Many of the Public Safety Department employees are ex-cops from the local area. Because of a heavy anti-police sentiment that has set the country ablaze, the University’s students want to cut ties with the local police. This demand is potentially a pathway to accomplishing this goal.
It is important to know that those chosen to keep students safe are, in fact, the best to keep students safe. However, when a company hires its employees, these people must meet certain requirements and pass background checks. I am unsure of the specifics in this case, but why would a business invest in staff that doesn’t have the best of intentions? The university in question has not complied with this demand.
A better way to go about this would be to suggest these employees’ current potential shortcomings be addressed and have the appropriate action be taken if it is necessary.
The following demands come from an even more radical standpoint, one that is not affiliated with the university in question, nor the student organization that has created the previous demands. Since I found these demands, the account has since been dissolved.
7. White student’s tuition is to be used to pay for slavery/oppression reparations to BIPOC students.
This extremist position is not one that can be used to negotiate change within an organization. Also, universities are not inclined to meet this demand because students would not want their money to be paid to other individuals at the university they attend. Students would no longer attend that university if this demand was met.
In addition, this sentiment is racist because it requires action to be taken on one group and not another based on the sole factor of skin color.
8. End core class requirements that are religiously Euro-centric and marginalize other world religions.
The university in question is one steeped in the Christian tradition. Therefore, as a private Catholic institution, the university in within in rights and is obligated to teach its students, who chose to attend such a university, in the Christian tradition. It’s not like this university does not offer courses in other world religion, because they do, they are just not required.
Students need to understand that this university is different than public secular colleges who do not center their beliefs and education around a particular religious ideology. Students also need to realize that attending a school with a particular viewpoint, that they are subject to abide by that viewpoint.
9. Dismantle the walls and gates that separate University property from the surrounding community because they are inherently racist and xenophobic.
Again, this university is public property and has enforced its borders, which it is within its right to do. The surrounding community has no right to the land owned by the university just by the simple fact that the university is within the surrounding community.
10. Allow green spaces to be used as a park for the public by opening the campus to the public.
Following the previous point, this university does not have a public campus and is not obligated to make its campus public.
Many universities are situated in areas that have high crime and poverty. Opening a campus to this environment makes the campus public domain and could potentially put students at risk. A university would not want to be liable for this and would likely not be in support of this.
If the university and its constituents wanted more involvement between the university and the surrounding community, that could be arranged. If university facilities like the green spaces, the gym, and the swimming pool were open to the public on a regulated basis where community members paid to enjoy the space, this system would make a mutually beneficial relationship. Students pay to use campus facilities. Therefore other people ought to pay for them as well.
Treating one group different from another for no reason is illogical.
11. Permanently waive college admittance standardized test score requirements for BIPOC students.
We must not conflate issues of class with issues of race. It has been found that those who have more money and have the ability to pay for tutoring and prep courses for standardized college admission tests perform better on these tests. Taking this class issue and deeming it a race issue is irresponsible and demeaning to BIPOC students, in my opinion. This is because it assumes that these students cannot achieve the same status as their white counterparts without assistance.
Because of the pandemic, this university has suspended test score usage during the application and admittance process for all students. If the university would like to combat this class issue, then the demand might be to eradicate standardized tests for all students. Doing so on the basis of race is racist.
12. Incorporate mandatory community service in the local community for white students.
The local community surrounding this university is primarily people of color, and students are primarily white. There is a stigma against the area that claims to be dangerous. The purpose of this community service requirement is to make white students be unafraid of the area in which they reside and have more compassion for the local community.
These are all good intentions, but again, to require community service for one group and not another, simply because of their race, is racist. All students should engage in mandatory community service because everyone can learn from the university’s local community, even if students grew up in that community.
The point of college is to learn; why deprive some students the opportunity to learn about people and government and social issues to the detriment of another group?
13. Investigate the anti-racism compliance issue by the Republican club on campus.
Regardless of political affiliation, anyone who does not comply with university policy should receive the proper consequences. However, as far as my research, this club has done nothing to rebuke the new anti-racist policy on this campus. This insinuates that Republicans are bad just for the sake that they are Republicans, which is unfair, hateful, and lacks inclusivity and diversity of thought.
If we want a world that has these qualities, we ought to condemn those who have a different perspective than us.
Wrongdoers, at a bipartisan level, ought to face the consequences, but making baseless claims based on stereotypes should be avoided, especially by those who wish that not be done against them.
If you’d like to read more about the Black Lives Matter movement, click here.
If you’d like to read more about how our nation is transitioning for the better, click here.
