Hunter MFA is mobilizing to decolonize our program and we need your help in permanently dismantling the structures of white supremacy and anti-Black racism in our public education system!

We need public servants who advocate and craft effective strategies that explicitly dismantle systemic racism and anti-Blackness within our institutions. I call on you to uphold your duties to the citizens of New York who attend and fund your schools.
In solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movements, I demand a reallocation of our public funds towards building a more culturally and economically inclusive anti-racist program. I expect that you will actively work towards reshaping public education through the following actions:

- No further budget cuts to an already weakened structure that fails to provide for its students.
- Redirect and reallocate funds towards re-orienting CUNY’s educational system so it is informed by racial and gender awareness. This will relieve your BIPOC student body of unjust labor currently required of them to educate their peers and professors. For the Hunter MFA in Studio Art, this means a particular focus on Critical Anti-Racist art history and theory within every syllabus taught in Hunter’s art programs. In addition, race and gender studies must be required
courses for graduation.
- Ensure faculty & student commitments and involvement with ongoing anti-racism training. This effort must be spearheaded by full-time and tenured faculty members, keeping this responsibility from falling on adjunct faculty members. We also demand our peers across Hunter College and CUNY are continually held accountable for perpetuating anti-Blackness.
- Incentivize inclusive student enrollment across programs through robust scholarships, internships, career mentorship, and job assistance, especially geared towards Black and Indigneous People of Color (BIPOC). At the current moment, there are only 6 Black students enrolled in the MFA program; only two are womxn.
- Establish an outside advisory committee to oversee and evaluate efforts to fulfill above demands, ensure accountability, and make further recommendations. Re-accreditation for our program should become contingent upon this. Similar program accountability measures must also be applied across CUNY as a whole.

These efforts, which will provide invaluable resources for the entire student body, will necessitate indispensable professors who intersect with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ people and people with disabilities, thereby increasing representation in our institutions. This initiative will encourage a sustainable and supportive environment for marginalized folks and increase retention rates by expanding the framework with which students and teachers engage. As a New York City taxpayer, I urge you to represent and advocate for my requests.