To the UConn Community:

As you know, last weekend the word “Black,” in the “Black Lives Matter” message that was painted on the Spirit Rock on the Storrs campus was scratched out and replaced with “All,” altering the statement to read “All Lives Matter.”

We write to share an update: After reviewing the incident, including video footage in which the license plate of the individual responsible was visible, the university determined that the person has no known current connection to UConn – meaning they are not a student or an employee – and they do not live in Mansfield.

While we are relieved that the person responsible is not a member of our community, that doesn’t change what took place, which we saw as an unmistakable attempt to antagonize and demean people on our campuses, especially in the context of national events. We deeply regret the harm that this incident has had on members of our community.

After consulting with the state’s attorney’s office, it was determined that this harmful act didn’t constitute a crime under state statute and no charges would apply. Even so, painting the Spirit Rock is a campus tradition that is intended solely for UConn students and student organizations. We will update our policy on the rock to reflect this. While that by itself won’t prevent something similar from happening, it is our hope that it will give the university greater leverage in addressing it.

Sincerely,

Franklin Tuitt, VP & Chief Diversity Officer

Michael Gilbert, VP for Student Affairs

The Africana Studies Institute, the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, the American Studies Program, the Center for Judaic Studies, El Instituto (Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies), the Human Rights Institute, the ​Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), ​the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the African American Cultural Center, the Asian American Cultural Center, the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center, the Rainbow Center, and the Women’s Center are in solidarity with our international students affected by the new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regulations that restrict students who are on F-1 and M-1 nonimmigrant visas. We find these draconian measures to have little to do with public health, especially as they impact students who have never left the country since the pandemic began. Rather, they are an extension of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policies on immigration. We are outraged by the continued racist and xenophobic language used by the President and his administration to blame the pandemic on Asian peoples, as well as the implicit and explicit demonization of immigrants as a threat to national security through the following policy attempts during his administration:

● Undermining asylum

● Banning Muslims

● Reducing refugee admissions

● Attacking the diversity visa program

● Imposing a “wealth test” for immigrants with legal status

● The pregnancy ban

● Increase in denying and delaying worker requests

● Slowing green card applications

● Closing overseas USCIS offices

● Pushing large numbers of people into deportation hearings.

● Attacking DACA and TPS

● Increasing costs for immigrants

This new ruling is yet another attack that targets the most vulnerable in our global communities. It is also a direct assault on universities, which are seen by the administration (correctly) as institutional obstacles to the ideology of white nationalism. The ruling also incentivizes students and instructors to jeopardize their health since individual students risk deportation if none of their classes meet in person, even if they attend institutions like UConn that are not teaching exclusively online.

The Africana Studies Institute, Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, the American Studies Program, the Center for Judaic Studies, El Instituto, the Human Rights Institute, the ​Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), ​the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the African American Cultural Center, the Asian American Cultural Center, the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center, the Rainbow Center, and the Women’s Center are committed to supporting the inclusivity of our international faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students. We are concerned that this policy will further reinforce institutionalized xenophobia in higher education and we ask that the university administration join us and do everything in its power to thwart this ruling. We will certainly do everything we can to protect international students, faculty, and staff at the University of Connecticut.

In solidarity,
Melina Pappademos, Director, Africana Studies Institute
Jason O. Chang, Director, Asian and Asian American Studies Institute
Chris Vials, Director, American Studies Program
Avinoam Patt, Director, Center for Judaic Studies
Samuel Martinez, Director, El Instituto (Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies)
Kathryn Libal, Director, Human Rights Institute

Amy Gorin, Director, Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP)
Glenn Mitoma, Director, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
Sherry Zane, Director, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program
Willena Kimpson Price, Director, African American Cultural Center
Angela Rola, Director, Asian American Cultural Center
Fany D. Hannon, Director, Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center
Kelsey O’Neil, Director, Rainbow Center
Kathleen Holgerson, Director, Women’s Center

First-Year Writing Program, Department of English, The University of Connecticut

Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter

The First-Year Writing program in the Department of English at the University of Connecticut affirms the Department of English’s statement in support of recent protests against police brutality, systemic racism, and anti-Black violence.a)

We acknowledge the long history of and continuing violence against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, most recently the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. We acknowledge, as well, the long history of both named and unnamed victims of racism in the United States.

We recognize that writing program instruction and writing program administration are disproportionately white. Recent scholarship in Writing Studies/Rhetoric/Composition has drawn attention to the lack of antiracist practices in writing classrooms and in writing program administration, to the detriment of students and instructors (see García de Müeller and Ruiz, 2015). As a group of Writing Program Administrators (both graduate and faculty) who are white, we recognize that we are in a privileged position and cannot represent those who have been shut out of positions of power like ours and whose voices have been silenced by racism in our institutions. We are committed to dismantling anti-racist practices in our classrooms and our program.

However, rather than taking over the conversation, we would like to hear from you. We ​invite you to contribute to this shared document​. We want to avoid speaking ​about​, and instead create a space in which we can speak together. We envision this document as an evolving set of practices for an anti-racist classroom. Please add your suggestions for how First-Year Writing can support you or work with you to support and foster antiracist teaching and administrative practices during the coming academic year.

We have compiled a list of resources below on writing instruction and racial justice — all of which are available for free online — and we strongly encourage you to review them as a first step toward developing and sustaining anti-racist classroom practices.

In solidarity,

Brenda Brueggemann & Lisa Blansett,
Co-Directors, First-Year Writing Program, Department of English

Réme Bohlin, Alex Gatten, Psyche Z. Ready, Kathryn Warrender-Hill
Assistant Directors and graduate students in Writing Studies and the FYW Program

Resources:

Banks, Adam.​ ​“2015 CCCC Chair’s Address: Ain’t No Walls behind the Sky, Baby! Funk, Flight, Freedom.”​ ​College Composition and Communication,​ Vol. 67, No. 2, 2015, pp. 267-279 (​Video on Youtube.)

CCCC.​ ​“Students’ Right to Their Own Language.”​ ​College English​,​ ​Vol. 36, No. 6, 1975, pp. 709-726

CCCC. “​CCCC Guideline on the National Language Policy​.” Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), March 1988, Updated 1992, Revised March 2015.

CCCC. “​CCCC Statement on Ebonics​.” Conference on College Composition and Communication (May 1998, revised May 2016).

Cedillo, Christina. ​“What Does It Mean to Move?: Race, Disability, and Critical Embodiment Pedagogy,”​ Composition Forum,​ 49, 2018.

Condon, Frankie, and Vershawn Ashanti Young, editors. ​Performing Antiracist Pedagogy in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication.​ ​Fort Collins, CO, WAC Clearinghouse, 2017.

García de Müeller, Genevieve and Iris Ruiz.​ ​“Race, Silence, and Writing Program Administration: A Qualitative Study of US College Writing Programs.”​ ​Writing Program Administration-Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators​, Vol. 40, Issue 2, 2017, pp. 19-39.

Inoue, Asao B.​ ​Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future.​ Fort Collins, CO, The WAC Clearinghouse, 2015.

Inoue, Asao B. ​“Classroom Writing Assessment as an Antiracist Practice: Confronting White Supremacy in the Judgments of Language.”​ ​Pedagogy​, vol. 19, issue 3, 2019.

Inoue, Asao B. “2019 Chair’s Address: How Do We Language So People Stop Killing Each Other, Or What Do We Do About White Language Supremacy?” College Composition and Communication, 71(2), 352-369. (​Video on Youtube.​)

Kendi, Ibram X.​ ​An Anti-Racist Reading List.
Poe, Mya, Asao B. Inoue, and Norbert Elliot, editors. ​Writing Assessment, Social Justice, and

the Advancement of Opportunity​.​ Fort Collins, CO, WAC Clearinghouse, 2018. Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources

A letter to our students and trainees:

The mission of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology is to provide an educational and research environment that is supportive and welcoming of all individuals across race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and religion. We strongly believe that education is a transformative experience for our students and trainees, and that their advances benefit the communities of our department, UConn, the nation and world. We endeavor to foster a learning community that is inclusive to all individuals, and to support you in your educational and personal journeys while at UConn and into the future.

It is not enough to not be racist. We must be anti-racist in our beliefs and in our actions. That is why the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UConn continues to support and amplify voices of reason and science at UConn, and the scientific community at large. In this era of misinformation, science and evidence-based critical thinking can help solve national and global issues to make our whole society better.

We are outraged and saddened by the continued violence and discrimination towards Black communities in our society. The adversarial responses to peaceful public protests are outrageous and disheartening. We acknowledge that white privilege and implicit bias negatively impact minority communities. We acknowledge that health, wealth, and educational disparities and inequities of opportunity exist in our society. We vow to continue to work to address these issues in our professional and personal roles in our community. Like President Obama, we see the “limitless potential” in each of you, and you deserve a place to work and learn where you can reach your utmost potential.

Black Lives Matter.

Please feel free to contact us if you should have concerns about any of these issues.

June 5, 2020

Dear UConn alumni and donors,

We are grieving with the nation. The UConn Foundation stands in solidarity with the African-American community and all citizens in condemning the killing of George Floyd and systemic racism. We are unified in the determination to fight for racial justice and equality. We must acknowledge the systemic roots of racism throughout our culture—from inequities in the justice and the public education systems to disparities in health care and communities that have led to disproportionate illness and death in the African-American community during the coronavirus pandemic. The legacy of injustice persists in silence. We add our voices to the resolute call to end the silence. Black lives matter.

We have compiled links to announcements and resources from across the University so that our alumni and donors can learn more:

Other UConn Letters to the Community
Racial Justice Resources from the UConn Office of Diversity and Inclusion
10 Books to Read About Race

We also want to share the letter to the community by UConn President Thomas Katsouleas and Provost Carl Lejuez, in which they contextualize current events and provide the lens through which we can examine and address racism and violence. Please read their message on UConn Today.

Sincerely,

Staff of the UConn Foundation

Message to Neag Community from Neag School Equity and Social Justice Committee

Dear Neag School Community,

Our hearts ache. George Floyd’s life matters. Breonna Taylor’s life matters. Ahmaud Arbery’s life matters. Black lives matter.

Racist violence is killing Black people and destroying our community, nation, and larger world. The violence happens every day. Every single day. Racial violence happens in the streets, in prisons, at parks, in our schools and college campuses across the nation, in research that perpetuates racism, and online. It is systemic violence that is built into and normalized in the everyday policies and practices of social institutions, including our educational system. It is a violence that suffocates racially minoritized people literally and figuratively. It prevents racially minoritized people, particularly Black people, from fully thriving because nothing and no one can thrive without being able to breathe.

As educators, leaders, coaches, and community activists, we know that one of the frontlines of this racial violence is in our domain: in our classrooms, schools, campuses, offices, and sport arenas; through our teaching, advising, coaching, support, and leadership; in the curricula we select, the research we do, the practices we engage in, and the policies we create and implement. We have the responsibility to confront this violence so that students and educators alike can be their authentic selves, thrive in their humanity, learn, and flourish.

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

— Audre Lorde, poet
We support Black communities, organizations, and other activists who are participating in resistance against histories of brutality and specifically in response to the vicious killing of Black people. As John Lewis says, this is the kind of “good trouble; necessary trouble” that must be created by people of conscience so that those of power and privilege are forced to listen, to change. We call on our fellow educators and leaders, including ourselves, to make their own kind of “good trouble.” Change your classrooms, change your teachings, change your schools, change your policies, change your practices, change your hearts, change your minds, and embrace Black lives and each person’s full humanity. Educating and leading in this way means you will cause “good trouble,” but we must do so. In the words of James Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

As a community, we can create anti-racist policies, engage in anti-racist practices and research, as well as offer equity-based leadership and teaching. To do this, however, we must start with ourselves, especially if we hold a privileged racial identity. We must engage in the process of learning and unlearning. We encourage you to educate yourself and seek resources that will help you to challenge racism and engage in anti-racist leadership and education. Lean into listening — listen to the voices of the people that are hurt and continuously harmed by racism.

What is clear is that to do nothing is to be complicit in white supremacy. We abdicate our responsibilities as educators and leaders if we do not work hard toward anti-racist practices, policies, leadership, and research within our own schools, campuses, classrooms, and organizations.

A number of the Neag School Equity and Social Justice Committee members identify as racially minoritized, and the following message is to our fellow colleagues of color:

Leaning on the wisdom of Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” Our pain and trauma are real. And, taking care of ourselves and each other is necessary. Alongside this, our hope for humanity is our legacy. We come from people and communities who have been resisting oppression and advancing dignity for all, generation after generation. We are the change makers. We are gifted with a vision for a better society. That gift is also a burden, but one we can carry together. Let’s be in community with each other. Let’s love. Let’s hope. Let’s lead. And, let’s rest, when we need to rest.

Below, we provide a few resources that we have found helpful. This is not an exhaustive list, and we encourage you to seek other resources, to share and discuss them with others, and to work in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity to make sustainable, meaningful change. In addition, please note that the Equity and Social Justice Committee will be organizing a Community Reading Initiative during the upcoming academic year, which will have the option to join virtually.

Learn more about this initiative, and if you are interested in joining, please complete this form. In addition, the Equity and Social Justice Committee will also continue efforts to strengthen community partnerships, advocate for equity and social justice practice and policies within the Neag School, and build community among Neag School constituents.

We also encourage you to stay informed with initiatives led by Dean Kersaint as the Neag School develops its diversity and inclusion plan and its broader strategic plan. We encourage you to be in touch with the Neag School’s leadership to voice your ideas, concerns, and to support the Neag School in being a leading anti-racist school of education.

Anti-Racism Resources

Anti-racism resources available online include a list of resources curated by the Neag School’s Grace Player and Danielle Filipiak, as well as a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources available via Google Docs. Also read “Questions Academics Can Ask to Decolonise Their Classrooms,” from The Conversation.

Resources for Black and Non-Black People of Color:

Mutualaidhartford.com and ctmutualaid.com
CT Black Mental Health and Wellness Initiative: Contact: Janelle Posey-Green, LCSW, at magnoliawellness83@gmail.com
TherapyforBlackGirls.com
LatinxTherapy.com
Cite Black Women Collective
Additional Resources:

Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao (Fall 2020 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
On Being Included by Sara Ahmed (Spring 2021 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (Spring 2020 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (Fall 2019 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
Dear America: Notes from an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas (Spring 2019 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B DuBois (Fall 2018 ESJC Community Reading Initiative Book)
Intersectionality by Patricia Hill Collins & Sirma Bilge
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Race on Campus by Julie Park
Understanding Words that Wound by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
We Gon’ Be Alright by Jeff Chang
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Teaching Community by bell hooks
Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
White Rage by Carol Anderson
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Uluo
We Want to do More than Survive by Bettina Love
In solidarity,

Neag School Equity and Social Justice Committee (ESJC)

Luz Burgos-Lopez

Jason Courtmanche

Danielle DeRosa

Danielle Filipiak

Liz Howard

Jillian Ives

Adam M. McCready

Glenn Mitoma

Kenny Nienhusser

Patricia O’Rourke

Grace D. Player

Lisa Rasicot

Ashley N. Robinson

Ann L. Traynor

Mary P. Truxaw

Susana Ulloa

Kiara Ruesta

Milagros Castillo-Montoya

Ian M. McGregor

Click here to see Dean Kersaint’s Op-Ed in The Courant