We are Zags Against Labor Injustice, a club on Gonzaga University’s campus focused on community organizing and activism.

Timothy Barnard is the owner of Barnard Construction company in Bozeman, Montana, which has readily signed 73 million and 324 million dollar contracts to build sections of the border wall in New Mexico and Arizona. Our intent is not to point this out as a political issue, but as a conflict of interest and violation of the university’s mission statement which states “The Gonzaga experience fosters a mature commitment to dignity of the human person, social justice, diversity, intercultural competence, global engagement, solidarity with the poor and vulnerable, and care for the planet.”

Gonzaga University’s reluctance to make public statements about and take action to correct the matter stands as a symbol of their acceptance of Barnard’s interests and actions. These include a disregard for the ecological, financial, and (most importantly) humanitarian consequences that will inevitably come of his lucrative project on the U.S.-Mexico border.

We are collectively requesting that Barnard be removed from the Board of Trustees and Della Strada plaque so that Gonzaga can continue to stand in solidarity with its students affected by current immigration policies and migrants seeking refuge in the United States. We also hope for the sake of the University’s reputation that these ongoings be publicly addressed for posterity as this construction project will inevitably be viewed as destructive in hindsight.