Audre Lorde was a leader in anti-racist work, queer theory and a pioneer for intersectional feminist theory. As a queer Black woman, Lorde challenged the exclusion of queer women and women of color from feminist spaces and academia. She illuminated that all freedom struggles require the inclusion of people from all backgrounds in order to be truly liberating.

Lorde’s work critiques the white supremacy that informs academia and permeates through Hunter, which appears as the lack of support for students harmed by racist professors and the significant lack of Black and Brown faculty, in a university that primarily services students of color. She was a visionary and her writing continues to inform our work as activists and as human beings. 

While Hunter administration has proposed a community read of Sister Outsider, we know that Hunter can do more to honor her legacy as a former graduate of Hunter College, renowned CUNY faculty member, writer and advocate.  As a result, Hunter faculty are pushing to have the West building renamed after Lorde because of her impact on feminist literature and her centering of Black and queer experiences in her work. Lorde’s legacy at Hunter College should be celebrated. Unfortunately, Hunter College administration has refused to support this call to action. In order to continue the legacy of faculty and student mobilization, it is imperative that we stand in solidarity with the Audre Lorde Initiative. 

In order to achieve racial equity on our campus, it is imperative to honor the history of Audre Lorde, a revolutionary, who walked through our halls while empowering all Black queer women to take up space. 

For more information on the Audre Lorde Initiative, read the letter written by Hunter faculty in the Hunter for Black Lives linktree and the student op-ed written about this initiative in the Hunter Envoy!

Renaming Hunter West is an essential first step of honoring pioneers for racial equity in academia and uplifting all students and faculty of color. As Lorde states: “Racism will change at Hunter when we begin to recognize race, and distortions around race, as a reality in consciousness and when we dare to examine the ways in which those distortions affect teaching, and imprint themselves upon our students.”

Sign and share this petition to show you stand with this initiative!