As the Equal Rights and Access Standing Committee of the graduate teachers union at Yale University, we support your struggle to hold Columbia accountable to the principles of equality and respect for all people inside and outside the institution. We, like you, wonder whether universities (must) perpetuate the systems of oppression that they claim to challenge. You challenge Columbia to confront their role in, as you put it, "a world in which racist, gendered, and sexualized hierarchies dominate the way power flows." Your demands for curricular and thus intellectual change articulate the way in which the knowledge produced in and by universities enables these harmful actions. We draw inspiration from your willingness to take direct
action to institute greater democracy on your campus.
Your struggle also speaks to other universities. Like you, we face a university that plays an increasingly dominant political and economic role in its host community and seeks to reshape it in its own image. This manifests in the forms of escalating gentrification and policing. Our administration, like yours has disregarded the voice of students, workers, community members, and faculty, and has failed to address the systemic discrimination that exists on our campus. We at Yale are also confronting articulations of white supremacy. The noose at Columbia manifests through hateful graffiti at Yale. Your example assists in providing encouragement for us.
We thank you for your determination, and most of all, your vision.
In solidarity and hope,
The Equal Rights and Access Committee of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
action to institute greater democracy on your campus.
Your struggle also speaks to other universities. Like you, we face a university that plays an increasingly dominant political and economic role in its host community and seeks to reshape it in its own image. This manifests in the forms of escalating gentrification and policing. Our administration, like yours has disregarded the voice of students, workers, community members, and faculty, and has failed to address the systemic discrimination that exists on our campus. We at Yale are also confronting articulations of white supremacy. The noose at Columbia manifests through hateful graffiti at Yale. Your example assists in providing encouragement for us.
We thank you for your determination, and most of all, your vision.
In solidarity and hope,
The Equal Rights and Access Committee of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
