Dr. Fisher... your email was a GREAT start, but it is not enough. We are still waiting for clear and concise leadership and action from Belmont.

In light of the senseless murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many more innocent black lives, I, along with other Belmont students, happened to notice that there has not been any statement made on behalf of Belmont University denouncing these heinous acts and systems of systematic racism publically or to the Belmont community. This silence is not only disrespectful to the BIPOC within the Belmont community, but is also entirely oppressive to the black community as a whole. Considering the majority of the student body is comprised of white students and is led by a majority-white staff, it feels essential that Belmont leverages its privilege being a wealthy, private, Christian institution to stand with BIPOC within our community. 

We, as students and community members, are calling on Belmont University to​ uphold its own mission statement of "[being] a student-centered Christian community providing an academically challenging education that empowers men and women of diverse backgrounds to engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage, and faith." By demanding the following...

• We demand the Belmont University breaks its oppressive silence and denounces racism on the individual, societal, and systematic levels, per the values of the University, both within the Belmont community and to the public.
• We demand that Belmont clearly communicates how they intend to protect BIPOC students on campus, and how they will work to educate the predominantly white student body about issues of racism, white privilege, and effective allyship both within the Belmont community and to the public.

With all eyes on this university with the upcoming Presidential debate, Belmont has an incredibly important opportunity to reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ on a national scale. Belmont University wants to "engage and transform the world with disciplined intelligence, compassion, courage, and faith." However, I believe at this current time Belmont University is greatly missing their own mark they set before themselves through the current complacency and inaction that is occurring on behalf of the university.

I, personally, am incredibly thankful for Belmont, and I love the school deeply. However, I am incredibly disappointed by a lack of response thus far. Being a religious institution that reflects the love and workings of Jesus Christ, I feel that this current inaction feels hypocritical to the University's mission.

Jesus was not silent when it came to issues of oppression, so why has Belmont been thus far?