The Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916
WWW.DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, october 7, 2020
Carbondale community gathers to honor the life of Breonna Taylor
VOL. 103, ISSUE 31
SIU Housing relocates RAs, makes University Hall overflow isolation unit Danny Connolly | @DConnollyTV Keaton Yates | @keatsians
Editor’s Note: The identities of some of the resident assistants in this story are anonymous and some use aliases because the RAs involved feared retaliation and losing their jobs due to University Housing’s media policy.
Michael Coleman and Jerricha Griffin lead the protesters around downtown Carbondale on Friday, Oct. 2. Around 30 people showed up at the Justice for Breonna Taylor event. Taylor, of Louisville, Ky., was killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers as the result of a ‘no-knock warrant.’ Recently the grand jury decided that the officers would not receive any charges for Taylor’s death. Jared Treece | @bisalo Oreoluwa Ojewuyi | @odejewuyi
Demonstrators gathered on Friday for the “Justice for Breonna Taylor” protest at the Carbondale Police Department. The event was organized by SIU political science senior and community activist Michael Coleman. The march began at the Carbondale Police Station and continued along the Carbondale strip before returning to the police department. Local businesses donated gift cards, gift certificates and art to be raffled off during the event. All the proceeds from the raffle tickets will be donated to the Louisville Bail Out Fund. Coleman said he has acted as a median between the city and the public, pushing for systematic change and prompting discussions concerning institutionalized racism in Carbondale and all over the United States. “I am here today because Black women deserve more, period. They do not receive the justice and ramifications
that they deserve,” Coleman said. “I want to educate the community to let them know that Black women are mistreated on all levels and we have to do better for them.” Following the march, Coleman introduced four different speakers who expressed their feelings about social justice, Breonna Taylor and their experience as Black people and as Black women. Camille Davidson, dean of the SIU Law School, came to speak in support of her students and community. “I say to my students, you should find your passion, follow it and be zealous advocates, and tonight they are here with respect for the death of Breonna Taylor and asking for justice,” Davidson said. Davidson said her experience as a Black woman and the grand jury’s decision in Taylor’s case only made her want to fight harder for racial equality. As a lawyer, Davidson said she hopes to see a system that protects all Americans.
“I’d like to see a system where we are not so quick to criminalize everything. I believe there are many situations when the police are called and they shouldn’t be. I want a system that helps people before we punish them,” Davidson said. Dan Asonye, a second year law student at SIU, was a speaker at the event advocating for the importance of voting and police reform. “We’re here to create awareness for Breonna Taylor, for young people to get themselves involved and engage in the political process because it’s our duty,” Asonye said. Asonye then spoke on police reform. “I hope to see the end of qualified immunity. This immunity gives the police a lot of protection and leeway. As we have seen, there are cases where immunity allows officers to get away with murder,” Asonye said.
Continued on pg. 2
Resident assistants in Wall and Grand and University Hall were given less than 24 hours’ notice telling them they would be relocated to accommodate isolated students who tested positive for COVID-19. The Daily Egyptian attempted to contact Jon Shaffer, the director of housing, for comment on this story four different times via email and left a message with his assistant. He did not respond as of publication deadline. According to the Housing Student Employee Agreement, housing employees are not to represent housing to the press or media unless they are told to do so directly. Because of this agreement, RAs have been told not to speak to the media and have expressed a fear of retaliation for speaking publicly to the Daily Egyptian, and have asked to remain anonymous now and in the past. An RA who asked to remain anonymous, “Mark Jones,” said most of the 16 RAs working at Wall and Grand or University Hall were notified the afternoon of Sep. 18 that they would be randomly reassigned to a different unit on campus by noon the next day. On Sept. 19, Housing assigned six RAs to continue to work at Wall and Grand, eight more will work at University Hall, and two RAs were relocated to Evergreen Terrace Apartments. “As the numbers in Jackson County were increasing, we decided it would be wise to have more isolation space available to students in the event that we needed them,” Lori Stettler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said. The RAs in University Hall will not be in direct contact with quarantined students, Stettler said.
Continued on pg. 4