As several Boston University students take to the streets to protest the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner in New York and Tamir Rice in Cleveland, BU President Robert Brown urged members of the community in a Monday letter to remain concerned about the issues surrounding diversity.
“As we struggle to make sense of these deaths and the surrounding events, I recognize with deep concern and frustration that we as a nation have yet to achieve the promise of an inclusive society,” Brown said in the letter. “At Boston University, a diverse, international institution situated in the heart of a major American city, our common ground is this shared sense of concern and frustration.”
For the past two weeks, members of the Boston and BU community have joined the national protest against the grand jury’s decisions not to indict police Officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo for the deaths of Brown and Garner, respectively, which many claim were the result of racism in the U.S. justice system.
Thousands of students and residents gathered at the Boston Common on Thursday to protest the Garner decision at the annual Boston Common Tree Lighting Ceremony, The Daily Free Press reported. On Dec. 3 the black student union Umoja held a candlelight vigil for Brown on Marsh Plaza. Thousands of students and residents took to the streets on Nov. 25, blocking traffic, to protest the Brown decision the day after the grand jury announced its decision. On the night of the decision announcement on Nov. 24, hundreds gathered at Boston City Hall and marched to the Massachusetts State House to protest the decision.
Brown said any students interested in planning a forum to discuss racism in the spring semester can contact Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, who will be working with other deans to coordinate discussions on racism with the BU faculty.
“As we move forward, I hope that you will engage in forums in the coming weeks and months that will continue the conversation about how we can, in the Boston University community, successfully become the inclusive, diverse community we envision,” Brown said.
Brown also said BU’s diversity statement, approved by the University and the Board of Trustees, stresses the value BU places on maintaining a diverse campus.
“We strive to create environments for learning, working and living that are enriched by racial, ethnic and cultural diversity,” the diversity statement on the BU website states. “We seek to cultivate an atmosphere of respect for individual differences in life experience, sexual orientation and religious belief, and we aspire to be free of intellectual parochialism, barriers to access and ethnocentrism.”
