[Tsa] All We Demand is Hampshire Be Actively Anti-Racist

Tue Mar 25 10:22:16 EDT 2008

MEMORANDUM

TO: Ralph Hexter 24 March 2008

President, Hampshire College & Board of Trustees

FROM: STUDENTS OF COLOR, Hampshire College

We are a collective of students from diverse backgrounds and communities
across campus. Throughout the past several weeks a number of us have taken
part in meetings to discuss growing concerns with the College. This year
marks the 20th anniversary of the Dakin Takeover, yet many of the demands
initially agreed upon remain unmet. It has become clear through the recent
panel on diversity and discussions with other administrators that
significant changes need to be made immediately.

As students of color and white allies it is our experience that the vast
majority of both faculty and administrators are completely unaware of the
issues we face and ill-equipped to address race in the classroom and beyond.
Further, students of color report having financial aid cut and not being
able to register for classes because of financial holds. The few professors
in ALANA studies are overworked. There is no stated policy in Non Satis Non
Scire to address issues of racial harassment, yet this semester alone
countless students have witnessed or been victim to racial incidents with no
response from the administration.

The institution has failed us. Your expressed commitment to diversity has
not materialized in any tangible way. It is our belief that change will not
occur unless we pressure the very foundation on which this institution is
built and the individuals most instrumental in decision making at the
College. As students of color, international students and allies we are
committed to a dramatic shift in the ways we as a community deal with issues
related to race. Please find attached a series of demands that we have
drafted. We recognize that efforts have been made by various individuals and
groups to address some of these, however we can wait no longer. Should the
administration fail to respond within a week, we are prepared to organize a
walk-out as the culmination of Action Awareness Week.

We demand the following:

1. Re-establishment of Dean of Multicultural Affairs (original position from
the Cole Agreement).

2. Creation of four new positions for full time faculty in ALANA and queer
studies.

3. Transparency in the process by which adjunct faculty become permanent
faculty.

4. Re-evaluation of the Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement.

5. Mandatory anti-oppression trainings for faculty, staff, Public Safety,
and housing staff and interns.

6. Stability in financial aid packages—If a student's needs do not change
the package must remain the same over the course of the student's time at
the College. Further, A student's ability to register for classes will not
be hindered by holds or other issues related to financial aid status.

7. Institutionalized funding for the Cultural Center and for SOURCE groups.
Identity based groups will be exempt from the process of 'group recognition'
each semester.

8. Permanent staffing at the Cultural Center, Women's Center and Queer
Community Alliance. Creation of a new staff position at the Cultural Center
to be filled by an individual experienced in addressing the needs of
international students.

9. Establishment of at least one hall designated for students of color in
the dorms by Fall 2008.

10. Designation of queer (and not queer friendly) hall in the dorm.

11. Allocation of funds to expand library and media resources relevant to
third world studies and students.

12. Immediate hiring search for a woman of color in health services with the
goal of hiring her within one year.

13. Permanent identity based housing on campus. Creation of permanent
work-study positions as housing interns for students of color and
international students in each living area.

14. Keeping Hampshire's policy on socially responsible investing in mind, we
demand that the school divest from Israel and dissolve all financial ties
that help or support the occupation in any way.

15. Establishment of a comprehensive racial harassment policy to be outlined
in Not Satis Non Scire.

16. Creation of a position in Institutional Advancement geared towards
raising funds that specifically address diversity on campus.

17. Closing of the College on Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Jr. day to
hold a campus wide teach-in on racism and imperialism.

Last, we demand that a committee of students and administrators be
established to negotiate these demands and assess whatever agreements
follow.

EVENTS

Tuesday 3/25

SPEAK UP/SPEAK OUT - Air grievances; make your voice HEARD.

It will be on the Library Lawn at 4PM.

STUDENT PANEL. "VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY." Members of the SOURCE community
will talk about the need for these changes along with their experience of
what it can mean to be a student of color/international student on this
campus.

It will be in the West Lecture Hall at 7:30PM.

Wednesday 3/26

TEACH-IN facilitated by white allies.

It will be in the West Lecture Hall at 4:00PM.

Thursday 3/27

FACULTY PANEL. "THE MYTH OF DIVERSITY." They will be discussing the subject
of race in academia. Tentative faculty list includes professors from
Hampshire and other colleges in the consortium.

It will be in the Main Lecture Hall at 4PM.

STORIES OF OPPRESSION. A writing workshop to get out stories of feelings of
marginalization, and to promote healing.

It will be in the Cultural Center at 730PM.

Friday 3/28

FILM SCREENINGS. Come learn about student activism that has happened around
these issues in the past.

It will be in the West Lecture Hall at 4PM.

Saturday 3/29

OPEN MIC.

It will be in the Faculty Lounge at 6PM.

*Previous Hampshire Walk-Outs*

http://www.hampshire.edu/library/archives/vol3/jstudentactivism.html

*Victory for Student Workers! Mary Ellen Doyle, Permanent Press, Apr. 8,
1988*

On Thursday, March 31, student workers received paychecks that included a
wage raise to $4.18 an hour. Previous paychecks had included a raise to
$4.00 an hour. This 11.5% increase marks the first time that students have
gotten a raise in the middle of the semester.

The final $.18 was negotiated the week before spring break when members of
the Student Workers Coalition met with the Administration's negotiating
team. These negotiations began after a one day walkout by student workers on
Thursday, March 3. Prior to the walkout an offer of $4.00 was made by
President Simmons. At the largest SWC meeting on record, students voted not
to accept the amount and to stage the walkout followed with the threat of a
full strike.

The action and the threat apparently had the right effect when Simmons
offered a negotiating team of Treasurer Allan Torrey, Director of Personnel
Margot Roche and Larry Beede from the Dean of Faculty's Office. At first
negotiations were stalled when Simmons refused to empower Torrey and the
others beyond the "participatory/consultative process of the college". The
SWC negotiators, Heidi Dorow, Mary McDonald, Brian Moore and Tom Schnieder
refused to begin talks with unempowered administrators. SWC member Nina
Mallette said, "That's what they did to us with the [Student Wage] Task
Force. This time we want action now!"

The problem was soon solved when the SWC presented Torrey with Article IX of
the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees, that stated that the Treasurer has
official power to execute documents "made, accepted or endorsed by the
corporation [Hampshire College]". After several sessions, negotiators agreed
on the amount of $4.18, based on an offer from the administration of $4.10
and the SWC figure of $4.25. Asked to comment on the $.43 raise, a member of
the Student Workers Coalition replied, "This is an amazing victory! It was
worth the months of struggle. But we're not done yet!"

Hampshire LINKS:

incident report form:

https://intranet.hampshire.edu/forms/viewForm.php?id=407

hampshire archives:

http://www.hampshire.edu/library/archives

Famous Walkouts

  .    In March of 1968, students from all five public high schools in East
L.A. walked out of their classes. Over the next several days, they inspired
similar walkouts at fifteen other schools. See East L.A.
walkouts<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_L.A._walkouts>
.

  .    March 28-29, 2006 - Thousands of students, mostly
Latino<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latino>,
walkout of school in the United
States<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> to
protest against legislation ("Sensenbrenner bill" (aka. HR 4437)) that would
crack down on illegal
immigrants.[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkout#_note-0>
[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkout#_note-1>

  .    31 October <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_31>
2007<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007> -
Hundreds of students walked out of Clarkstown High School North in New City
in order to protest the decrepit conditions of the building, which ranged
from electrical problems to a rat and maggot infestation. Another problems
was the school's long lasting cockroach infestation.

  .    On March 5 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_5>,
2008<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008>,
students from Alameda <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda_High_School>
 and Encinal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encinal_High_School> High
Schools walked out to
protest<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encinal_High_School#March_2008_Student_Walkouts>
a
vote that would end several sports and Advanced
Placement<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement> classes
in the both schools. The vote was a result of the state government refusing
to cut the prison budget and instead cutting the budget for education.

East L.A. walkouts

The *East Los Angeles Walkouts* or *Chicano Blowouts* were a series of
1968<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968> protests
against unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School
District<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Unified_School_District>
 high schools <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school>. While the students
who organized and carried out the protests were primarily concerned with the
quality of their education, they were also motivated by the high minority
death toll in the Vietnam War <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War> and
the ongoing civil
rights<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955-1968%29>campaigns
of the Chicano Movement <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicano_Movement>.

Background

East Los Angeles<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Los_Angeles%2C_California>
had
been home to Mexicans <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico> since the
establishment of Mission San Gabriel
Arcángel<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Gabriel_Arc%C3%A1ngel>
in
1781. With the dawn of the American era, they found themselves restricted to
the East side, and other non-Anglo ethnicities were segregated here as well.
As a result, East Los Angelinos never received the same level of government
services as did their wealthier, whiter West-side counterparts.

During the 1950s and 60s, Mexican
Americans<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American> took
part in the national quest for civil rights, fighting important court
battles and building social and political movements. Mexican American youth
in particular became politicized, having taken advantage of the many
opportunities their parents never had.

[edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_L.A._walkouts&action=edit&section=2>
]

Organizing

Inspired by the charismatic Chicano educator Sal
Castro<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sal_Castro>,
a teacher at Lincoln High
School<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_High_School_%28Los_Angeles%29>,
and after attending youth leadership conferences where they learned about
the discrepancies between Eastside and Westside schools, members of the Brown
Berets <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Berets> and other student groups
from
Roosevelt<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt_High_School_%28Los_Angeles%29>
, Wilson <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_High_School_%28Los_Angeles%29>,
Lincoln,
Garfield<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield_High_School_%28Los_Angeles%29>,
and Belmont<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_High_School_%28Los_Angeles%29>
high
schools began organizing for change. First they took a survey of Chicano
attitudes towards school and education. They presented a list of demands to
the school board based on the results of the survey. After bureaucratic
delays, the student leadership decided that only direct
action<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_action> would
suffice to bring about change.

[edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_L.A._walkouts&action=edit&section=3>
]

Walkouts

In March of 1968, students from all five public high schools in East L.A.
walked out of their classes. Over the next several days, they inspired
similar walkouts at fifteen other schools. Their peaceful protest spread
until the authorities called on the police to end the demonstrations by
force. Castro, along with twenty five others, including twelve students,
were arrested and charged with "Conspiracy to Cause an Unlawful Public
Disruption". The jailed students became known as "The East L.A. Thirteen".
Eventually, all charges against them were dropped.

[edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_L.A._walkouts&action=edit&section=4>
]

Aftermath

Many of the student organizers became prominent in their fields. Moctesuma
Esparza <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moctesuma_Esparza>, one of the 13
accused, became a successfulfilm
producer<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_producer> and
went on to open doors for Mexican Americans in
Hollywood<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_States>
. Harry Gamboa, Jr. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Gamboa%2C_Jr.> became
an artist and writer. Carlos
Montes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Montes>,
a Brown Berets Minister, was charged with arson at a hotel during the Chicano
Moratorium <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicano_Moratorium> against the
Vietnam War. Oscar Zeta Acosta<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Zeta_Acosta>,
the famed "Chicano lawyer" who later became the model for Hunter S.
Thompson<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson>'s
character "Dr. Gonzo," defended him and won his acquittal. Paula
Crisóstomo<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paula_Cris%C3%B3stomo&action=edit&redlink=1>,
a half-Filipina <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_American> half-Chicana
went on to prominence in the school system, where she continues to fight for
reform. Vicky Castro went on to serve on the Los Angeles Unified School
District Board of Education. Carlos Muñoz, Jr., went on to a distinguished
teaching and research career at the University of California,
Berkeley.[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_L.A._walkouts#_note-0>

The student actions of 1968 inspired later protests that used similar
tactics, including the 1994 student walkouts against California Proposition
187 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_187_%281994%29>,
the 2006 student
walkouts<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_U.S._immigrant_rights_protests>
 against H.R. 4437 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.R._4437>, as well as the
walkouts in 2007 for the recognition of the Cesar Chavez
holiday.[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_L.A._walkouts#_note-1>

[edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_L.A._walkouts&action=edit&section=5>
]

See also

  .    Walkout (film) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkout_%28film%29>

revolutionary solidarity

-- 
and you said "My life is like a bad movie" and I said "that's true of all of us"