APPENDIX C: STATEMENTS FROM STAKEHOLDER GROUPS Black Student Union (BSU), African Student Association (ASA) and Trinity Diversity Connection (TDC) statement: To the Trinity community, President Anderson, the Vice President of Student Life, and the Board of Trustees, We, students and members of the Black Student Union (BSU), African Student Association (ASA) and Trinity Diversity Connection (TDC), have come together to respond to the statements made by various administrators at Trinity. Following this narrative, we provide action items in response to calls for our input on ways to improve the experience of Black Trinity students. Trinity University’s statement on May 30, reacting to the murder of George Floyd and the increased attention towards the Black Lives Matter movement, was insufficient and disappointing. It was riddled with empty words and absent of action. For example, the statement calls for “the beginning of a conversation” without stating exactly what Trinity as an institution intends to change. Instead of making a commitment to becoming more representative, the university misspelled Breonna Taylor’s name. Instead of providing support to the members of BSU and ASA, the university refused to acknowledge the structural problem of police brutality that disproportionately affects the Black community. Instead of publicly committing funds and additional staff to the Diversity and Inclusion Office, the university called for “conversations” about diversity on campus. Instead of owning up and apologizing for the university’s perpetuation of its own structural racism, the university offered an MLK quote and refused to say Black Lives Matter. We are tired—tired of the continued refusal to listen to our voices and experiences, and tired of Trinity’s continuous refusal to acknowledge and account for its actions. Trinity's initial empty statement, made on May 30, left us frustrated and disappointed. These feelings were exacerbated after viewing Dean Tuttle's subsequent statement sent on May 31. In an attempt to write words of encouragement to the Black community and its allies, Dean Tuttle’s experience took priority; not ours. Once again, white people are making OUR experience about them. Currently, there are protests around the world about police brutality and the violence it has inflicted upon the Black community. Dean Tuttle is aware of this fact, yet he chose an anecdote about an officer — one of “the good ones.” This sidestep/deflection is extremely disrespectful to the community that has undergone severe trauma from the police institution. Further, in the following sentence, Dean Tuttle even refused to acknowledge that a policeman killed Floyd by broadening the statement, saying, “a man killed him.” We are tired of this pattern of downplaying our issues, making them about anyone other than us, and simplifying police brutality to a case-by-case problem, rather than an institutional issue. Additionally, in the next paragraph of the May 30 statement, Dean Tuttle stated he had nothing "new or insightful to offer." However, he could have. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Dean Tuttle to reassure Black students via a promise to commit to specific actions aimed at mitigating our stress. Dean Tuttle acknowledged that we have experienced generations of trauma.
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