As members of the Penn State Community, we support the list of recommendations made by the African American Studies Department to address systemic racism at Penn State. 

The African American Studies Department has called on you, President Barron to do the following: 

1) Sever Ties with Local Police Forces and Disarm Campus Police: We request that Penn State, as have other universities, dissolve contracts with outside police forces whose policies and practices reflect the pervasive anti-black bias evident in policing around the country. We support the demilitarization of all police including on-campus police by asking that they be disarmed on campus. This will ensure that all members of our community can work and learn in an environment where we do not fear for our lives;

2) Establish a New Task Force on Policing and Communities of Color: We ask you to form a new commission to address local policing that includes local faculty experts on race and policing, community members most impacted by biased policing practices, and nationally recognized experts who are proposing ways to reduce public harm, increase transparency, institute community review, and strengthen criminal and civil accountability for police brutality. We adamantly oppose the revival of the 2016 Task Force on Policing and Communities of Color given its composition and its recommendations, which would not substantially change the structural relationship of police to Black and other marginalized communities. For decades, numerous studies have shown that the 2016 report’s proposed recommendations, even if implemented, would not work.  Instead, changes to current policing practices should be formulated and implemented using evidence-based solutions from groups like the Center for Policing Equity and Yale Law School’s Justice Collaboratory, among others.  In addition, increased funding is needed for public services that address the root causes of domestic violence, substance abuse, houselessness, and mental health crises;

3) Center Courses in African American Studies and Other Appropriate Units for a New GE Requirement on Anti-Black Racism and Challenges To It: Penn State is not unique in being a place where structural racism operates, but it does have a unique opportunity to make meaningful change. We represent an academic field that is well-positioned to educate our students and community about the history of structural racism, racial violence, and the meaning of transformative justice. We call on the  university to center our course offerings including Black Freedom Struggles (AFAM 100), Racism and Sexism (AFAM 103), Afro-Latin America (AFAM 105), and African American History (AFAM 152), as well as the course offerings of other units including African Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Asian American Studies that address these issues. Courses that focus on structural racism and challenges to it should be required of all students as part of our General Education requirements; 

4) Establish a Well-Funded Resource Center for Underrepresented Faculty: Underrepresented racial and ethnic minority faculty members are difficult to recruit and retain at Penn State. In other words, Penn State and State College are not welcoming environments for nonwhite, historically marginalized faculty. This is unfair and inequitable. We call on you to establish a well-funded resource center for underrepresented faculty and other marginalized populations that facilitates equitable access to opportunities, leadership and advancement at each career-stage.  We also call on you to institute stronger policies that better protect faculty from the racial and ethnic microaggressions and behaviors from colleagues and administrators that inhibit their success at Penn State;  

5) Increase Student Aid for Black Students: Black students are more likely than any other demographic group to graduate in debt and among all students who graduate in debt, theirs is the highest. Penn State, thus, participates in aggravating the existing (and growing) Black-white wealth disparity. We ask that Penn State increase the resources it devotes to recruiting Black and underrepresented students including allocating scholarships for Black undergraduates and predoctoral, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships for Black graduate students so that we can successfully recruit them and they can graduate debt-free;  

6) Increase Mental Health Resources for Black Students: Racial and ethnic minorities are harmed by racial and ethnic microaggressions and other activities that define their Penn State experience. As a result, they are disproportionately represented among those seeking increased mental health resources. Yet, their academic success depends on their ability to maintain emotional and psychological health. The creation of equity and greater diversity means that we must develop resources that support their success, despite these unfair conditions. We call for a renewed focus on the recruitment and retention of mental health professionals who better represent the diversity of our student body and can better serve their needs.The time for change is long overdue, as global and local protests over the last 3 weeks have demonstrated. We stand with our students in demanding that this university do better. We call on Penn State to become a local and national leader in combating systemic anti-Black racism on its campuses and eradicating police violence and all forms of state and non-state violence wherever it is found. We look forward to your response.