Yesterday on May 11th, 2021 Jahshanti Henry, a sophomore flutist at Eastman School of Music, was lounging in Bettys Cafe after attending his studio class. Soon after, he was asked by a police officer to show his Campus ID after another student reported him as a“suspicious” person. This is the third incident of either a student or Public Safety Officer questioning his attendance here at Eastman. The Black Students Union at Eastman would like to formally offer our sincerest apology to Jahshanti, for having to repeatedly prove his place in a community that he has been a part of for over ten years. Let it be known that Jahshanti is not the first black student to have been racially targeted by Public Safety and or our peers, in addition, he will not be the last, unless we as a community refuse to allow this to continue to happen. We thought that having members of our Black Students Union in the Eastman Action Commission for Racial Justice would be enough to see actionable change, but something else must be done. 

The Black students at Eastman don’t feel safe on their own college campus. We have compiled a list of needs that need to be met before the start of the Fall 2021 semester. The demands are as follows: 

• All Faculty, Staff, and Students must swipe their ID cards in order to enter through Lowry Hall or Hatch Hall under the supervision of a Public Safety Officer that is there to only witness whether they have swiped their own card and to sign in any Non-Eastman Faculty, Staff, or Student. 
• Public Safety must only engage situations of suspicious activity, such as a person with a visible weapon, damaging and or stealing property, disrupting public order by either screaming, attacking, and or threatening another person; not suspicious people, which is based on one's own personal biases and opinion of who they deem to be a threat to the Eastman Community.
• While BSUE is primarily a student- led organization, we need a Faculty Advisor to support our organization with any endeavors, issues or concerns that may arise. 
• There needs to be a Diversity officer/administrative position on Eastman campus, and Eastman students of color should be a part of the search committee for that position. 
• BIPOC students need a physical safe space on Eastman campus they can call their own. 
• The Bias Incident Report system that is in place for the University of Rochester has proven to not be as effective as it should be. We need a new system that is specific for Eastman campus reports. 

If you would like to see these changes implemented, you can sign your name in the link in our bio.

Enough is Enough.

Sincerely,

Black Students Union at Eastman