April 27, 1991

I ' r o i n ;
A t '
Al l Fa c u l t y
A l l S l a f f
The SliKlciils In Oci:ui)a(:iuii ul: Pccsi(1ciit*s Itov
He apologize oc our failucc to aiMccss you soonec aiid mote dircctly on
t i l i o cri si s vl i i cl i l i as devel oi )e(l at UVM, t he cci sl s whi ch cul mi nat ed vl i en ve
wecc compelled to take the steps we took on Monday April 22 when we occupied
Pc es i dent ' s Row i n Wnt er r oy n. He woul d l i k e y ou t o t >ear wi t h us and hone ot i c
side 6 how this crisis developed. We Itave had neither the sophisticated
nviclilhury noc the time Jior relccl:ion to allow sufficient communication vlth
you as we would luive liked to nvilntain. He would like to cnii.)l)aslzft tlwit wc ilci
not think we liave a solution to everything. He value youc opinions aiKl your
supix)rt for our cEorts to make UVM a model Institution, one in which all
| )eopl ei rrespect i ve o t hei r race, rel i gi on, cl ass, gei Kl er, cul l urc, or
sexiicil orlentatlon~can lave a role aixl stake within tlie academic comnunity.
Nothing is further fcoro our miiKls tluin the intention to undernlne your role in
shaping the destiny of our Institution. Given this, we want to empluislze the
Cnct that our action is not inteiKled as negative but as positive. He Itave not
taken thi s acti on l i ghtl y, for our enti re futures are now pl aced on the l i ne.
He Ik'ive consciously taken such a serious action to uphold our values, values
which acknowledge atxl respect everyone's humanity.
lletween 1971 and 1900 there kis l)ecn no sulistantlal ctiange coiK:crning
racism at UVM. In the Pall of 1907 a gcoup of ALANA (African, UitliK), Asian,
Nat i ve Ameri can) st udent s began havi ng bi -weekl y meet i ngs wi t h t he presi dent :
of UVM, [.attie Coor. H)e students liad a well reseacctied and clearly outlined
list of: proiK)sals which addressed the problems of the lack oC "cultural
diversity" aiHl provided solutions. As such the students were In .fact doing
t he wor k of t he admi ni st r at i on. At cr cl ose t o a year of t hese meet i ngs, Coor
st i l l r ef used t o t ake act i on on any of t hese pr oposal s. Rat her t l i an ser i ousl y
considering the proposals, Coor merely rephrased them and returned them to the
students. *i1)crcore the president did not take action but continuously
managed to "mlsuiKlerstand" the proi)osals made by the students of color. Ilie
discussion seemed to 1x3 going In circles. The level of frustration mounted,
2> (lid the sense of futility, for no one else took the Initiative to comlxit
racism at UVM. As a result of these unproductive meetings in which
admlnistiative response to AhANA issues was little more tlian lip-service, the
st i Kl ent s deci ded t l at i t was t i me t o change t hei r appr oach, l l i e
admi ni st r at i on had cr eat ed a dead- ci kI si t uat i on whi ch sucked up t he st i Kl ent s*
time and energy. As a result, these students sacriced both their academics
aiKl social life for naught. If oppressive institutions (the University) do
not allow for citannels with productive results, then it is up to the
initiative of the oppressed (students of color) to create both the clkinnels
and the cl i ange.
Ill the spring of 1900 the students proceeded with a non-violent takeover
of the Pcesident*s Row In the Hatermyn Duilding, the aforementioned proposals
were now stated as demands. Il i e Al i ANA sttxl ents went on a hunger stri ke for
ve days. Increasing support and pressure from the Durllngton community,
nlumnl, faculty, the student body, and student organizations played a major
role In moving the negotiation proccss foward. The nal agreement signed by
President Coor, and later agreed uion by a vote of the Faculty aiKl Student
Setuites, became known as the Vfatermyn Agreements. Tliese demands cncomLiass a
btoatl rancjG o Issues meant to rectify the unequal status of ALANA students
s t a f f a i v 3 f a c u l t y a t I f V M . '
Over the course of the next two yenrs the President's Panel on Cultural
Diversity met with President Cooc at*! then with Interim President Hennessey.
Durln9 these meetlny false information arKl stalllny techlnques were employed
to curtail much progress In regards to "cultural diversity." For example
President Coor's denied his Intention to leave UVM, and thus his Icavimj
severly retard the implementation of the Agreements. Another example Is
President llenniiSHey's acclaiming the luring of 21 faculy of color, while
ncgliictlng to mention the deiartnre of 14 faculty of color which occured
duri ng t he same (xsrl od of t i me.
In the Fall of 1990, George Davis became the president of IMl. Despite
years of mlsui^derstaivilngs atxi outrlglit lies, tlie students continued to punh
on. At a fal l retreat, Davi s rml y asserted hi s commi ttment to "cul tural
diversity". Divls spoke of tlie need for "campus ownership" of the Agreements,
disregarding the Faculty and ntutlent senates' vote on the agreement two years
prior. He continuously stated the need for leadership on the Issues of
"cultural diversity", yet never once took the Intlatlve to Implement the
Agceentents. *l1ie transition from lleni^essey to Davis seeins to l^ve i)een smooth,
for Davis coritinues tlie tradition of dressing up irrelevant and pre~exlstlrg
courses as AI.ANA studies. It was at this time, Dec, 1990, tliat the Panel
urged Davis to resign the Agceeinonts. Davis however, refused to resign the
Agreements aivl li^tead agreed to sign a pledge of his conunittment to tite
uiKlerlying values of the Agreements, llils resigning was to take place during
a ceremony on Ki rt i n Lut her Ki ng Jr. Day.
After the students returned for the spring semester of 1991, Davis
reneged on the signing of this pledge. This was done without prior warning,
arKl no explanation given to tlie students of color, Tims, Davis showed a lack
of r esi xi ct f or st udent s of col or, ai Kl a l ack of t r ue concer n f or t he I ssues of
racism. 11)e Panel was frustrated and felt betrayed by the administration but
continued to push on. At about this time Davis stopped attending tl)e bi
weekly meetings with the students of color. 'Ilierefore, attempts by students
and faculty to work within cliannels !>ave been blocked by Davis.
Over the course of three years things liave not clianged much. While for
t he upcomi ng year t he appl i cat i ons f or st i Kl ent s over al l t t as i ncr eased 0. 0
I )ercent , t he number of appl i cant s of col or has f al l en bet ween 10 and 25
IKircent. In the [wst three years the net gain of full time tenure track
faculty of color is only 1.60 i)er year; out of 245 tenured full professors
only 5 are people of color. Hiere exists i\o AI.ANA studies program nor a
subst ant i ve body of r el evant cour ses.
W h a t I s t h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n a t U V H ? S t u d e n t s o f c o l o r l v e f o r t h r e e
year s wor ked wi t hi n t he syst em. I l i ey l i ave met wi t h var i ous r epr esent at i ves
from the University atKl l^ve attempted to Implement a document titat was signed
by t he Presi dent ai Kl vot ed upon by t he Facul t y and St udent senat es. As t l i e
Pr esi dent i s t he hi ghest l evel admi ni st r at or, t he st udent s l i ave exl i aust ed al l
means of r edr ess avai l abl e wi t hi n t l i e syst en.
11ms, t he st udent s deci ded I t was necessary once agai n t o t ake act i on t o
r ect i f y t he unequal st at us of st udent , st af f and f acul t y of col or. We hope
t l ^t you now l ^ve a gr eat er under st ani l l ng of t he hi st or i cal f act s ai xl
st at i st i cs concer ni ng our occupat i on of Pr esi dent ' s Row. We l ^ave doubt s al x) ut
the conunltment of the university to meaningfully address all of our con'^'^rns
about cul t ur al di ver si t y. The const ant l ack of r esponsi veness or ^ . . i i ngf ul
action l)y the administration to the pressing issues of cultural diversity lias
left us with a sense of ho[K23essness and frustration. Very reluctantly we have
r f ound our sel ves wi t h no al t er nat i ve but t o adopt ser i ous pr essur e t act i cs t o
deal wltli this extremely sterile situation. Thus, as a last resort we Itave Ivid
to occupy the Presi dent' s Row i n Watermyru
In thi s context, It has t^ecome our responsi bi l i ty to take the Ini ti ati ve
to produce concrete, tangible results. The changes tliat the admlnlstrcition
lays claim to are merely cosmetic, in light of the severity of the situation
[Kirtolnlng to tlie lack of cultural diversity. In other words bandages liave
l^en i^rovlded but the wounds have not yet Ixien allowed to heal. Tlie
University has not shown sufcient or substantive improvement in Uie areas of
recruitment of faculty and staff of color, devising staff development programs
t o t r ai n f acul t y f r om wl t l i i n, and i nt egr at i ng an ALANA concent r at i on an we31
as a gl obal f ocus i n t he ext r emel y Eur ocent r i c cur r i cul um at al most al l l evel s
of t he Uni ver si t y syst em. I t I s st i l l t he case i n Apr i l 1991, t l t at UVH t l i e
f ol l owi ng const i t ut es t he cor e of t he cur r i cul um:
- Ph i l o s o p h y ( Pl a t o , Ka n t , l l u mQ)
" Pol i t i cal l l i ougl i t ( Ar i st ot l e, l l obbes, l - t ar x)
-Social Theory (Slmn\el, Durkheim, Weber)
-Economic Tliougiit (Smith, lUcardo, Keynes)
- Psycl i ol ogi cal Ti i eor y ( Pr eud, Adl er, Jung)
- Sci ence/ Hat h ( Eucl i d, Dar wi n, Coper ni cus)
-courses whi ch stress a peri od (Tl i e Enl i ghtment, Industri al i zati on.)
Ti l l s i s much t oo Eur ocent r i c a per spect i ve of educat i on, l l i l s
currlciilum completely marginalizes tiie accompllslments of people of color that
iuive contributed in every spliere of liuman endeavor. For example, tliere is no
reection of the contribution to social tiieory of suclj people as W.E.D. Du
Dols, lijn Kiwldun, Bell Hooks, i-liio Ze Dung, Angela Davis, Hltsuye Yainada,
Paulo Frelre, Frantz Fanon, Giiandl, Walter Rodney, and Ngugi va Tliloncj'o.
Our aim Is to create a free, compreiienslve educatloiwl system on our
campus. Tiie educational policy at UVM npliolds, in practice, that "wcsterii
cul t ur e i s t l i e l ^est t l vat was ever t l i uught or wr i t t en" ( Kat t hev Ar nol d) . The
di ver se composi t i on of t he U. S. must I xi t aken i nt o consi der at i on i n devi si ng
tiUs all encompassing curriculum, whlcli we all agree is necessary to develop.
Tiiis curriculum must also promote a glolxil awareness. To achieve a truly
gloi^al [perspective, however, we must replace an external Eurocentric point of
view with an Internal authentic point of view. Dy iiaving education Ixj an
Inclusive process. It serves only to complete a radically Incomplete
(;urrl(;ulum. In thhi cdcatlonnl proctjfjs Columbus Is not seen as tlie discover,
but as tlie Invader of tlie Americas, thus giving an ol^ectlve perspective whicli
does not del egi t i ml ze t he exper i ences of Nat i ve T^er l cans. Ti l l s makes senf se,
f or our educat i on must prepare us f or t i i e more compl ex worl d t l i at we si i al l
I n h e r i t a s t i i e r s t a d u l t p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e t we n t y r s t c e n t u r y. I f we a r e
t o cr eat e t hi s educat i onal I deal I t i s i mpor t ant t o r e- exami ne t i i e cur r ent
st r uc( : ur c! s of t hi s I nst i t ut i on. Per l i nps we nt ay t i i en nd t i i at t l i ese
st r uct ur es, as t hei r l i l st or y suppor t s, ar e i nadequat e I n addr essi ng t he I ssues
of culture diversity fully. V/e need to accept the fact tliat the present
st r uct ur es have al ways uphel d a whi t e Eur ocent r i c phi l osophy, i n a cont ext
whi ch excl udes al l ot i i ers. But as t i mes l i ave ci i anged so l i as t he not i on t l wi t
this piillosophy carries more weight than any otiier. It Is Important tliat we
al l work togetl i er, as students, staff, and facul ty to evol ve thi s structure
f or cul t ural di versi t y, so t l i at we may enl vance our educat i on as a wi i ol e.
- St udent s I n Occupat i on