[B]URLINGTON — University of Vermont student group No Names for Justice held a rally to draw attention to racism on campus and to reflect on developments of the past year — good and bad — on the anniversary of the group’s takeover of the Waterman building.
Around 100 students attended the event, which No Names for Justice also used to highlight other social justice groups on campus.
While the group noted that some positive steps had been taken, the students also stressed that racism remains prevalent on campus.
“Microagressions are still happening on campus, there is racism everywhere,” said junior Harmony Edosomwan, a student leader of No Names for Justice.
Protests last year followed the posting of white supremacist signs on campus and the group made a number of demands, including the resignations of President Tom Sullivan, Provost David Rosowsky and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Annie Stevens.
During those protests, the students blocked traffic on Main Street in Burlington and occupied the Waterman building, the main administrative building on campus.
One of the group’s top demands was the renaming of the Bailey/Howe library. The university’s board of trustees voted in October to remove former UVM president Guy Bailey’s name from the library because of his role in the Vermont eugenics movement of the 1920-’30s.
Among positive developments, Edosomwan highlighted the renaming of the library, the start of a diversity fellowship program in the College of Arts and Sciences, the addition of counselors at the Mosaic Center for Students of Color, the hiring of more faculty of color in the College of Education and Social Services, and the naming of a green on campus in recognition of Andrew Harris, the first African-American graduate of the university.
But she stressed that there are still many issues facing students of color at UVM. For example, she said microaggressions are rampant, including against students of color who work in the Davis student center.
Edosomwan also called attention to Rep. Kiah Morris’ resignation from the Vermont Legislature and the white supremacist posters which went up in downtown Burlington earlier this month.
“White supremacy in Vermont is very real,” Edosomwan said.
Amanda Martinez, another junior and No Names for Justice organizer, said that the impression that the university continues to give the public about inclusion on campus is faulty.
“UVM is not as it seems,” she said. “They put out this diversity but doesn’t help anyone through it.”
White supremacist signs made a return to campus in fall 2018, when signs reading “It’s okay to be white” appeared on campus in October.
Stevens said the university has taken many steps to address racism on campus since the students occupied the building a year ago.
“We’re always trying to strive for better, better is relative, I believe,” she said. “In terms of change, a lot has changed from a year ago.”
Stevens, the student affairs vice provost, pointed to the renaming of the library, the dedication of the Harris green, increased faculty and staff training and improving the university’s bias response program as among the changes at the university in the past year.
Students of color feel there is much more to be done.
“Conditions are not better for students of color on campus,” Edosomwan said. “The only way that can be done is if the university actively works to uproot the white supremacist culture that exists here, and actively works with student voices.”
Martinez said that students of color wanted — but did not receive — a voice in the presidential search and the renaming of the library.
Edosomwan said that the rally was also meant to make students aware of other campus activism opportunities.
Among the speakers at the rally were representatives of Explain the Asterisk, a student movement to require the university to disclose sexual offenses of students attempting to transfer, and the Coalition for Student and Faculty Rights, the student group working with faculty to protest cuts in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Student members of the Queer Student Union and the Women of Color Coalition also addressed the audience.
The No Names for Justice organizers said they were concerned that they would be disciplined for using megaphones to amplify sound in Waterman, and said that if the university punished them, it would be an attempt to silence their voices.
Stevens said that campus police would review the videotape of the rally to look for policy violations, which would be referred to the student conduct process, and that some of the students could face discipline.
She said using amplified sound in Waterman, which is a classroom and office building, would be a policy violation.
Sullivan announced he was stepping aside in August and will be joining the faculty after this academic year. Rosowsky announced Monday that he also would be leaving his position.
Suresh Garimella, the executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue, was hired to be UVM’s next president Feb. 22.
Martinez said members of the group met with Garimella during his visit to campus, and that he said that students should talk to him about these issues when he becomes president.
“He did say to hold him accountable for the words that he said, that he would talk to us instead of us protesting,” she said. “All we can do is hope that he will hold himself accountable and say, ‘yes, we can have these discussions, and get stuff done’.”
Edosomwan said that No Names for Justice’s activism comes from a desire to improve the university for future generations of students of color.
“We’re not doing this because we hate UVM,” she said. “We’re doing this because we care about UVM, and we want UVM to be a better place.”
