MONDAY May 3, 2021
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Vol. 150 Issue 54
RSO criticizes UI silence toward police shootings BY BRENDYN JONES ASSISTANT ON-AIR EDITOR
In the wake of recent police shootings, the RSO Black Students for Revolution issued a statement to the University about its silence. S p e c i f ic a l l y, the organization called into question why there had been no University statement about Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo or the start of the trial of Derek Chauvin. BSFR encompassed many things in the statement published on April 18, discussing Black and Latinx underrepresentation on campus, University Housing putting the multicultural advocate program on hiatus and the lack of student involvement in this decision making. “We’re not in those spaces helping make those decisions,” said Madison Jackson, senior in LAS and a member of BSFR. “If they really cared about what the students think about their lack of diversity and inclusion, then they would have more student input in those spaces. But we’re not in those spaces and so they’re coming from a very elitist perspective.” The statement also expressed frustration with the large number of Massmails regarding COVID-19 vaccine appointments in comparison to the small amount of Massmails addressing “incidents of systemic violence.” In April, the University issued 10 Massmails about vaccination eligibility and one regarding racism as a systemic issue. That
Massmail addressed the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial. As of Sunday, there has yet to be a Massmail about Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-yearold girl who was killed by police in Columbus, Ohio on April 20, two days after the BSFR statement was released. Events off campus may have spurred the statement by BSFR, but issues of policing and racism aren’t foreign to the University campus. In 2019, a noose was found in Allen Hall, causing student outrage. According to University of Illinois Public Department data and Illinois Newsroom, between 2016-2019, 54% of all people taken to jail by UIPD were Black. In 2019, Black people were 4.4 times more likely than white people to be stopped by UIPD, according to an Illinois Department of Transportation study. Dimitri Love, senior in LAS and another member of BSFR, talked about some of the difficulties of being a Black student at a predominantly white institution. “You’re not represented at a PWI,” Love said. “Representation matters a lot, whether people fail to realize it or not. When certain things like (police shootings) happen within this country, because it’s bound to happen again, you have professors that are not as susceptible to what the traumas bring.” BSFR ended the statement with a list of demands to the University. The demands included things
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACK STUDENTS FOR REVOLUTION’S FACEBOOK
Members of the RSO Black Students for Revolution pose for a photo. The organization recently called out the University on their silence regarding police shootings.
like strategies to defund UPID, mental health days for students impacted by policing, increased funding to cultural houses and a call for “Project 1000,” an initiative to substantially increase the number of Black students on campus. Since the murder of George Floyd last May, the University has released some initiatives to address systemic issues on campus. In July, Chancellor Robert Jones created the Office of the Vice Chancellor for
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. According to the Office’s website, Jones has promised $2 million annually to “focus intellectual and scholarly talent of our university to examine two of the greatest challenges facing our society and seek new solutions.” Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs, Robin Kaler, said via email that Jones has hired Alice Cary as the director of Public Safety and one of her goals is to implement 21st century policing to the University
campus. Those would include adding a social worker to co-respond to incidents with police “during mental health emergencies and adding a community engagement director to the staff.” T h at c om mu n it y engagement director position was filled by Dementro Powell, who has served as interim assistant director of the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center. According to Love, none of these changes meet the BSFR demands, however,
as the organization calls for much larger changes to the University. “The University is trying to meet those said things to the public,” Love said. “But, we’re not foolish in knowing that those are very hollow. You can’t make change without directly impacting the system, and you’re a part of the system. You can greatly impact change by investing in institutions.” brendynjones@dailyillini.com @brendyn_jones
Students propose sustainability general education requirement BY VIVIAN LA ASSISTANT DAYTIME NEWS EDITOR
Student senators are seeking University Senate approval for a proposal to add a three-hour sustainabilit y genera l education requirement for undergraduate students. Student senators said they want to ensure Un i ver sit y s t udent s graduate with an awareness of sustainability and global
climate change. “ Hav i ng it a s a graduation requirement, at least it plants the seed of sustainability and gets (students) thinking about it,” said Tyeese Braslavsky, junior in LAS and Illinois St udent G over n ment senator. “Maybe that seed will grow into something.” Braslavsky co-authored the Senate proposa l with student senators Jessica Nicholson, Dana
Yu and Creen Ahmad. Braslavsky said preventing irreversible damage from climate change starts with education. The Senate Executive Committee has been generally supportive of the proposal, but there are logistical concerns to address, Braslavsky said. The proposal calls for a current six-hour general education requirement or subrequirement to be
PHOTO COURTESY OF TYEESE BRASLAVSKY’S FACEBOOK
Junior Tyeese Braslavsky is a student in LAS that works as a Student Senator at Illinois. She and other members of the council proposed a general education to add three more credit hours for undergraduate students.
reduced for the threehou r s u s t a i n a bi l it y requirement. The total number of hours needed to graduate wouldn’t be affected. “But that’s a difficult pat h to n av igat e,” Braslavsky said. “Because each unit, especially those that have a lot of gen-eds in their departments, they — understandably — want more people to take those courses.” The next step for the proposal team is to establish a working group to have individual conversations with different units and departments about these requirements. The proposal, which passed as an Illinois St udent G over n ment resolution in December 2019, was first drafted two years ago by the Student Sustainability Committee. Nicholson, one of the original authors, said it started as a discussion a b out su st a i n a bi l it y education. “Tackling sustainability issues a nd creating solutions requires the involvement of multiple fields of study,” Nicholson said. “Our motivation was to ensure every student gets that in some capacity, and the best way to do that is to create a gen ed
requirement.” Nicholson said she’s feeling optimistic about the future of this proposal, and the team is aiming to establish a working group to lead proposal efforts before the end of the semester. The proposa l wa s endorsed by and received support from various campus organizations and faculty. Registered student organizations and environmental groups were also supportive. T he Inst it ute for Sustainability, Energ y a nd Env ironment is one such organization. Meredith Moore, iSEE’s sustainability programs coordinator, said she’s incredibly excited about this proposal.
She said the proposal fits into the campus’ larger Illinois Climate Action Plan. Along with working toward the climate plan’s goal of carbon neutrality, the aim is to educate students on sustainability and climate change along the way, Moore said. “Having this gen ed would help us reach some of those goals about the importance of sustainability, why they should care and how they should care,” Moore said. Braslavsky said this requirement would play into the University’s overall goal to better society. “They will go out and make the world more sustainable,” Braslavsky said. “That very much SEE PROPOSAL | 3A
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