Focus on Social Justice Issues

Concerned Students for Social Justice
Initial Letter to Willamette University

November 16, 2006

Dear Willamette University,

We are students who are ready to seek change. We will not be attending our work or our classes today, as we are visibly taking a step toward fighting oppression on this campus. Please understand our intentions. We respect the difficulty of your professional obligations and we are inviting each of you to join us in this movement to raise awareness of the injustices that are occurring daily in our community. Today, we are demanding that a Social Justice Council (similar to the Sustainability Council that already exists) be formed, by Monday November 20th, to immediately address the following changes, which must occur on our campus. We would like the first action of the Social Justice Council to be an organized teach-in scheduled before winter break. Announced by Monday, we would like a scheduled meeting with the Board of Trustees to discuss our plan of action.

These are issues that we demand be addressed:

  • Creation of MOI and mandatory convocations regarding all levels of social inequality and injustice
  • Expansion of curriculum and faculty addressing sexual identity, race and ethnic studies, and women and gender studies
  • Creation of an American Ethnic Studies Major
  • Hiring of a significant number of staff and faculty of color and different sexual identities
  • Update the hiring practices of administrators, staff, and faculty to include awareness of social injustice issues
  • Social Justice/Diversity Training required for all staff, administrators, and faculty
  • Revising admission efforts at increasing diversity at Willamette
  • Director of Multi-cultural Affairs to report directly to the President of the University
  • Adequate funding to enact these needed reforms
  • Reforming of the Opening Days program to include social justice education
  • Gender Blind Housing
  • Creation of a visible, well-funded, and well-staffed Social Justice Office

This is a growing list, knowing full well that there are many other issues that have and will arise when dealing with this topic.

With hope,
Concerned Students for Social Justice

P.S. Please come wearing red in solidarity.