Dear Whose Diversity? Friends and Supporters,
As many of you know President Kaler has declined to meet with us at the Brian Coyle Community Center on any of the dates we proposed. He has instead asked us to engage in more institutionalized dialogue with him at his office. He has also tried to set the parameters of the meeting by limiting it to one hour and a maximum of 10 members from our collective. President Kaler declined our invitation to meet with us at Brian Coyle for the following reasons:
Given that the focus of the meeting relates to university matters, it should be held on university grounds.
Our response: President Kaler travels thousands of miles to meet with “fat cats” and plutocrats yet he can’t walk across the street to meet with university students. Last time I checked, we were supposed to be his top priority, not Mr. and Mrs. Money Bags.
A meeting off campus cannot ensure the President’s safety.
Our response: It would appear as if Kaler has fallen victim to the implications of his own racialized crime alerts. He appears fearful of racialized spaces and spatialized races.
We will be holding our community forum in spite of the President’s absence. We’ve confirmed the last of the three proposed dates:
Date and time: Saturday December 6, 2014 from 12-1:30 PM
Location: Brian Coyle Community Center
420 15th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
Rather than be discouraged by his disinterest, we see this as an opportunity to rally our supporters around an action we are calling “Moral* March on Morrill.”
Your support in this process is vital. So tell a friend to tell a friend. We hope you will seriously consider lending your time and energy to this process that is larger than any one of us. We know that your lives are much larger than issues of diversity at the U, but at the same time these issues do make up enormous parts of our individual lives.
In solidarity,
Members of Whose Diversity?
* We realize that the term “moral” may not sit well with some folks. You may ask, if we are “moral” than who or what is immoral? We are not attempting to suggest that Kaler or the administration is immoral. We do however know the difference between right and wrong. While we don’t endorse thinking in absolutes, we are convinced that the blanket refusal to fill faculty lines in ethnic studies, the recent closure of the Post-Secondary Teaching and Learning (PSTL) program, the continued lack of support for replacing faculty in Chican@ studies, racist parties and racialized crime alerts are wrong. We ask that you please refrain from getting too academic over our discourse. This is a community affair and our community extends well beyond the walls of the academy.
Given that the focus of the meeting relates to university matters, it should be held on university grounds.
Our response: President Kaler travels thousands of miles to meet with “fat cats” and plutocrats yet he can’t walk across the street to meet with university students. Last time I checked, we were supposed to be his top priority, not Mr. and Mrs. Money Bags.
A meeting off campus cannot ensure the President’s safety.
Our response: It would appear as if Kaler has fallen victim to the implications of his own racialized crime alerts. He appears fearful of racialized spaces and spatialized races.
We will be holding our community forum in spite of the President’s absence. We’ve confirmed the last of the three proposed dates:
Date and time: Saturday December 6, 2014 from 12-1:30 PM
Location: Brian Coyle Community Center
420 15th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
Rather than be discouraged by his disinterest, we see this as an opportunity to rally our supporters around an action we are calling “Moral* March on Morrill.”
Your support in this process is vital. So tell a friend to tell a friend. We hope you will seriously consider lending your time and energy to this process that is larger than any one of us. We know that your lives are much larger than issues of diversity at the U, but at the same time these issues do make up enormous parts of our individual lives.
In solidarity,
Members of Whose Diversity?
* We realize that the term “moral” may not sit well with some folks. You may ask, if we are “moral” than who or what is immoral? We are not attempting to suggest that Kaler or the administration is immoral. We do however know the difference between right and wrong. While we don’t endorse thinking in absolutes, we are convinced that the blanket refusal to fill faculty lines in ethnic studies, the recent closure of the Post-Secondary Teaching and Learning (PSTL) program, the continued lack of support for replacing faculty in Chican@ studies, racist parties and racialized crime alerts are wrong. We ask that you please refrain from getting too academic over our discourse. This is a community affair and our community extends well beyond the walls of the academy.