A message to Chancellor Andrew Martin: 

We are directly replying to Chancellor Martin’s message to the WashU Community entitled “Racial Equity and Justice” sent out on the evening of May 31, 2020. We, a coalition of Black students at WashU, demand that the administrators and trustees of Washington University take action regarding the current state of racial injustice and civil unrest in this country. After the most recent occurrences of police brutality, we demand the following; 

First, WashU must reevaluate WUPD. It is necessary for the university to acknowledge that law enforcement institutions are inherently anti-Black and violent to our communities. And, within this recognition, it is imperative that WUPD respond and receive feedback directly from the Black community. We demand that the university begin a conversation, in the form of scheduled meetings, between Black students, WUPD, and the administration about stratagems to reassess relationships between students and officers, the demilitarization of WUPD as an armed force, and the procedural aspects of how officers escalate situations. This issue is of importance to Black students, as we cannot dishonestly continue campus safety with the current paradigm as though the contentious relationships between Black people and law enforcement, as highlighted by recent nationwide events, is not replicated on Wash U’s campus. We want to ensure that while WUPD is tasked with the campus’ safety, Black students are not made to feel unsafe by the forces tasked to protect them. Furthermore, as WashU is the largest employer in Saint Louis and supports the police departments that crossest jurisdictions on our campus through the employment of their officers in WUPD, Washington University in Saint Louis must show their active commitment to Black liberation by taking steps on campus that will reverberate off-campus and into these police task forces that exist in the surrounding areas.

Second, Wash U must acknowledge the lack of investment and explicit support for Black organizations and activism in the St. Louis area. We demand that this year the university equally distribute  an $18,000 donation to the following Black St. Louis organizations: Arch City Defenders, Action St.Louis, and the Organization for Black Struggle. $18, 000 is only a third of the cost of tuition for one year, for one student. $18,000 is only a drop in the bucket of WashU’s wealth. With tuition prices increasing annually, we expect that donations will increase annually.

Broad statements and vague promises are not enough; it is necessary for the university and the Board of Trustees to make tangible and financial contributions to the community it exists in.

The events transpiring around the country are direct results of the inaction by large institutions such as WashU. While we are using a petition format as a method of tangibly tracking support through signatures, this is not an ask. We are explicitly demanding these terms.