Press Release
When: Wednesday, April 30, 9:00 am
Where: Front steps of Morrill Hall, U of M campus mall
100 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Where: Front steps of Morrill Hall, U of M campus mall
100 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Whose Diversity?, an autonomous collective of students at the University of Minnesota, calls upon U of M President Kaler and the administration to respond to a set of demands necessary for creating a campus environment that is free from discrimination and exploitation against students, staff and faculty who are people of color and/or GLBTQ and/or working-class and/or (dis)abled and/or (im)migrants. We seek to address inequalities along multiple axes of difference, and to create equitable representation for all communities at every level of the university.
The University of Minnesota “celebrates” its 150 years of being a land grant institution designed for the “common good,” which allows for “learning, discovery and engagement.” But what does this mean when celebration obscures reality? When the “common good” negates the reality of discrimination that students, staff and faculty from historically marginalized communities experience on campus? The Whose Diversity? Collective is ready to question the University’s discourse of “success” and “progress” for our campus, a notion that stifles discussion, prevents growth, and disregards how the people from these communities endure exclusion on campus. Therefore, we are calling upon the University of Minnesota administration to uphold its commitment to diversity, and adhere to the demands presented by students who are representative of the communities that embody “diversity.”
We join in solidarity with other higher education student movements happening across the country that challenge mainstream narratives of diversity, such as: #BBUM (Being Black at U Michigan), #ITooAmHarvard, and the Higher Education Justice Movement in Minnesota.
The University of Minnesota “celebrates” its 150 years of being a land grant institution designed for the “common good,” which allows for “learning, discovery and engagement.” But what does this mean when celebration obscures reality? When the “common good” negates the reality of discrimination that students, staff and faculty from historically marginalized communities experience on campus? The Whose Diversity? Collective is ready to question the University’s discourse of “success” and “progress” for our campus, a notion that stifles discussion, prevents growth, and disregards how the people from these communities endure exclusion on campus. Therefore, we are calling upon the University of Minnesota administration to uphold its commitment to diversity, and adhere to the demands presented by students who are representative of the communities that embody “diversity.”
We join in solidarity with other higher education student movements happening across the country that challenge mainstream narratives of diversity, such as: #BBUM (Being Black at U Michigan), #ITooAmHarvard, and the Higher Education Justice Movement in Minnesota.