UIC Senate statement on Black Lives Matter

The UIC Senate Executive Committee on July 29 approved the UIC Senate Statement on Black Lives Matter.

The statement reads:

The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are just a few examples of the countless unjust killings of Black people by police. Members of the Faculty Senate have experienced many emotions as we have come to terms with and acknowledge the anti-black racism, systemic racism, and violence that permeate our society and that Black people experience every day. We must act so our Black community members no longer live in fear.

As faculty leaders, we recognize that words alone are not enough and that we have much work to do through collective action and partnership with the administration, the faculty at large, students, and the general community. This is not just a matter of committing to being non-racist. We need to commit to being anti-racist at multiple levels. We must recognize our responsibility to confront, mitigate, and change anti-Black structures within our community. This responsibility includes examination of our own practices, as we determine the curricula and control the instruction, assignments, evaluations, and the processes through which we interact with students. Also, as faculty, we have many other opportunities for input through shared governance, such as in faculty recruitment and setting admissions and grading policies. It is our responsibility to recognize our own implicit biases and work to address and overcome them.

The UIC Faculty Senate asks all of our faculty and administration colleagues, especially those who are white, to recognize our privilege and power, to seek to adopt specific anti-racist policies and to commit ourselves to listening, learning, speaking out, and taking action against systemic racism that exists within our institution, colleges, classrooms, curricula, labs, clinics, and processes. These include faculty and student recruitment, faculty and student retention, and evaluation so that all faculty and students of color feel welcome and respected and have equal access to opportunities. Join us in our commitment to transforming UIC to a truly inclusive campus where Black Lives Matter.

Black Lives Matter.