Black Lives Matter. 

Systems of white supremacy are killing Black people. From slavery, to Jim Crow segregation laws, to mass incarceration, this country has an unbroken chain of policies that have systematically marginalized Black people. These policies go hand in hand with a culture of fear, hatred, and racism toward Black people that leads to our deaths. 

The last few weeks have left us mourning the senseless murders of Nina Pop, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Tony McDade. #SayTheirNames. They are sadly just a few casualties of police brutality because as we know, state violence toward Black people is ongoing, every day, and the deaths are innumerable. We cannot keep mourning. Enough is enough! End the war on Black lives!

Concerned alumni of the Heller School are once again called to proclaim that Black Lives Matter and to demand accountability from Brandeis University as an institution that upholds white supremacy and harms Black students. 

Our collective, Heller Forward, is in solidarity with all Black protesters who are risking their lives to demand justice and accountability from the very systems and institutions that are killing our people. In solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, we demand that Brandeis University divest from police and remove police presence on campus. We ask current and former students of Brandeis University to sign this petition AND contact President Liebowitz to demand action: president@brandeis.edu 

In promoting an event scheduled for this week, the University wrote “Equity and respect for people - regardless of the color of their skin, religious beliefs or background - are among our most important foundational values at Brandeis.”  But we are still waiting for Brandeis University to stand on the side of justice, to state that Black Lives Matter to the institution, and to take actions to address anti-Black racism on campus. 

Just as Brandeis University divested from the fossil fuel industry in 2018, we demand that the University divest from police and end police presence on campus. As part of the University’s own guidelines, they state: “Where a corporation's conduct is found to be clearly and gravely offensive to the university community's sense of social justice... consideration should be given to selling that corporation’s securities.” With consideration including “relationships with oppressive governments” and “extent and nature of military contracts.” Policing is a system built by the United States government to oppress Black people. The militarization of the police has made local law enforcement an extension of the US military, which has resulted in increased violence, oppression, and murder of Black people in our communities. In the last three weeks alone, we have seen egregious and fatal crimes committed by police around the country against Black people. This is “clearly and gravely offensive to the university community’s sense of social justice” and by its own standards, Brandeis University must end its relationship with this oppressive institution.

If Brandeis truly believes in equity and respect for all people, it’s time to prove it. 

Sign this petition and contact President Liebowitz to demand Brandeis University divest from police and end police presence on campus: president@brandeis.edu 

#BlackLivesMatter 

#JusticeforFloyd

#BreonnaTaylor

#SayHerName

#TonyMcdade

#BlackTransLivesMatter