Answering the call: University of St. Thomas lays out action plan against racism
The University of St. Thomas is going on the offensive against racism and hateful acts.
University president Julie Sullivan issued a statement Thursday afternoon that her office is committing to a 17-step action plan to combat racism.
This announcement came in the wake of a racist act last Friday, when a first-year African-American student living in Brady Hall found a message spray-painted on his door. The message included a racial slur and told him to "go home."
The St. Thomas student community reacted with shock and disgust at the attack, and its undergraduate student government wrote an open letter to the community, issuing a call to action for students, faculty and staff.
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Six days later, Sullivan announced the action plan and the school's endorsement of student activities in response to racism on campus.
She said the university's board has been paying attention to the issue of racism on campus. The incident last Friday, and the response that followed, motivated her to work with faculty and staff to finish the plan.
"When I heard about this incident, and it coming on the heels of incidents that we've had in prior years, there was an overwhelming call to action," she said.
The action plan includes short-term goals like increasing bystander training and trauma resources, and long-term ones like recruiting more faculty, staff and students of color. The plan also promises regular updates on these initiatives.
Speaking to the mood on campus, Sullivan said she's hurt for the student who was targeted, but also saw the school come together in condemnation of hateful acts. At a sit-in protest organized by the student government on Thursday, Sullivan said she saw white students and students of color sitting side by side.
"There were hundreds and hundreds of people there: students, faculty and staff," she said. "There were blacks, there were whites, there were far more whites than blacks. And so I am very hopeful that this is a moment of solidarity."
An investigation into the incident at Brady Hall is still ongoing, according to the University of St. Thomas' Department of Public Safety.