UVM Protesters Call for Resignation of University Officials
A University of Vermont (UVM) student group named “No Names for Justice” a conglomeration of underrepresented student groups on campus called for the resignation of President Tom Sullivan, Provost David Rosowsky, and Vice Provost Annie Stevens after the administration failed to meet several demands regarding diversity. In a Facebook post in the spring, the group demanded that the UVM administration increase faculty recruitment of LGBT and people of color, university-wide diversity and inclusion training, increase funding for student groups, among other demands.
“No Names for Justice” pointed to several examples of racial injustice on campus including white supremacist flyers, theft of a Black Lives Matter flag, and a student accused of making racist threats. The university refused to release records from the court case of the student accused of making racist threats, thereby hiding the student’s comments and the university’s response to the accusations.
John Mejia, a staffer in the Office of Student and Community Relations, recently went on a hunger strike to protest racism on campus in solidarity with the “No Names for Justice.” On Tuesday, Mejia along with 200 students, gathered at UVM’s Waterman Building to rally for racial justice. In addition to the student groups demands, Mejia called for the formation of a racial justice center, UVM police to be trained every semester in anti-racism and implicit bias, increase funding for anti-racist events, among others.
In response to the “No Names for Justice” and Mejia demands, the university spokesman, Enrique Corredera, wrote in an email, “We take the concerns our students are raising very seriously, and we will continue to work diligently to continue to make progress.” Corrderea highlighted President Sullivan’s commitment to these issues through the establishment of the President’s Commission on Inclusive Excellence and establishing a mandatory diversity and cultural competency training for senior leadership.
On February 9, senior leaders sent an email to UVM students outlining the steps taken to address “No Names for Justice” demands. The email detailed a handbook for guidelines for recruiting faculty of color, mandating diversity training for fraternities and sororities, and increasing funding for student groups affiliated with ALANA, the Asian-American, Latino, African-American and Native American coalition in addition to other areas of progress.
During a Friday protest last week, President Sullivan took the megaphone and expressed his opinions on the matter. “I know the urgency with which you feel and understand these issues. I feel that same urgency. And I sometimes have that same frustration as to why things take so long in our university communities,” stated Sullivan.