Focus on Social Justice Issues

Concerned Students for Social Justice Final Letter to Willamette University

November 19, 2006

Dear Willamette University,

We are students who have made, and will continue to make change. We know that creating change requires dedication, hard work, determination, and the valuable resource of time. We recognize that it will require the collaborative efforts of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and the greater Willamette community. We want to thank those who have already and will continue to work together in an effort to foster change on our campus. We want to thank and acknowledge the administrators and President Pelton who invited us to come and create open lines of communication, and promised to work with us towards our collective goals. We also want to thank the faculty and staff for their continued support, along with the students who have joined the struggle and taken action.

It is our job as members of this community to raise the level of awareness of oppression that occurs daily in our community. This movement is not in reaction to isolated incidences, but rather to effects of larger systemic and historical forces in society and on our campus, which foster an environment that enables these incidences to occur. Silence is complicity. Our methods were intended to make it impossible to ignore the oppression that is pervasive on our campus and begin to effect change, both of which were accomplished by our actions thus far. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, "We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive."

Progress has already been made with President Pelton's creation of the Diversity and Social Justice Council, and with the other steps announced in the email received last Saturday. The announcement of these actions is an initial step towards ending oppression on our campus. While we have thanked the students, faculty, and administrators who support our cause, we want to remind them that there is still great work to be done. Ending oppression at Willamette is an arduous task that requires time and dedication. As students who are seeking change, we pledge to continue dedicating ourselves to this end.

Now is the time to take action. The wheels of progress have been set in motion and the next movement forward involves working together as a community to create change. We, members of the Willamette community, need to continue supporting the administration, and those in power, to make Willamette a place where all can feel safe and welcome. While we support their efforts, we also recognize that is necessary to continue to apply pressure to remind them that we will not stand by and wait for further change to occur. We invite all of those who desire to work towards ending oppression to join us in solidarity. Whether it is sexism, racism, heterosexism, ableism, or classism, these issues have a grave effect upon us all. Together, we as a community can and will make change a reality.

With hope,
Concerned Students for Social Justice