The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies unequivocally condemns the racist incidents targeting Black, Asian, and Jewish communities that have taken place on and near our campus in the past week. The Department recognizes that these are the most recent incidents of a pervasive problem and we confirm our feminist commitment to anti-racism, anti-oppression, and social justice. We therefore extend our support to all racialized and minoritized communities impacted.

As faculty and staff working towards creating a more just world, we are in solidarity with the #NotAgainSU student movement and all protesting students and their allies. We support their efforts to call on the administration to take swift and much needed action against systematic and interconnected forms of racism. We urge the university to provide direct, material, and long-term strategies to these incidents in order to ensure that there is no place for racism on our campus. Additionally, we call on the university to respect student protesters and that no retributive measures or actions be taken against any protesting student.

The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies reiterates our unwavering commitment to develop feminist curriculum and create academic spaces where all interconnected forms of racism, xenophobia, sexism, homo/trans-phobia, ableism, and classism are identified, exposed, and confronted.