As racial issues continue to drive the country into further turmoil, many colleges are beginning to listen to the voices of their students. At Hofstra, though, it seems a lot of these voices have fallen on deaf ears. There is a rising demand for justice and acknowledgment of Black people that Hofstra is falling behind on. I want this piece to be a direct call to action for you, President Stuart Rabinowitz. The need for specifically Black spaces is so very important right now, if only for the fact that in this time of social upheaval, we as a community need to support and rally alongside each other. It is in this same vein that the Black Leaders Advocating for Change (BLAC) included in their list of demands a greater presence of Black staff and cultural foods, as well as a stronger African Studies department. We as people want to have our identity and our culture acknowledged, to feel related to, and especially as Black people in America, we want to be represented and heard and to feel safe when faced with unjust circumstances. These resources would allow us to connect with ourselves as a community and feel valid in this social climate. We are seeing our own attacked and killed, and currently, the only things we can connect with on campus are the reminders of our pain. We want something more.
In regard to painful reminders of the past, President Rabinowitz, this brings me to the most brazen and concrete example of Hofstra’s failure to truly listen to its Black students – the Thomas Jefferson statue. As statues and names of oppressive and racist figures come down at other campuses and throughout the entire country, Hofstra remains in a years-long conflict about the removal of the Thomas Jefferson statue. Nowhere does this insensitivity toward Black students and staff show more literally than in this statue’s continued presence. What I would like to know is, what does Hofstra have to lose in placing this statue in the museum? You would think Thomas Jefferson must have held an integral role in the founding of Hofstra University, but no, he actually has nothing to do with the University. Somehow, after years of protests and counterprotests, the statue still stands in public view. I have to know if Hofstra’s administration thinks activism is a game. Was there a purposeful misdirection and irony in mind when Hofstra addressed the statue’s movement? President Rabinowitz, I am asking that you truly acknowledge the Black population on campus.
President Rabinowitz, I’m asking that you actually help your student population, actually hold council and speak directly with these organizations and these students. Please don’t read the list of demands and send a press release of pseudo-considerate jargon a week later. When we ask these things of you, we don’t have to settle for only half of the demand being fulfilled, like the statue that was moved instead of completely removed. Don’t give the Black communities of Hofstra a meaningless gesture or a one-day deal – we want these issues addressed and there can be no silence until they are. Please don’t solely consider your fiscal responsibility to Hofstra; consider the social responsibility as well, because these social aspects are what really keep Hofstra functioning and thriving. We are a liberal arts institution first, and humanity and culture are some of the biggest parts of that. This is in the name – the humanities.
Ultimately my actions and my input are insignificant to the situation at hand. This power lies with you, President Rabinowitz. It is your hand that can bring these changes to the students of Hofstra, and yes, you can just as easily retire next year without considering any of this, but can you really? In this time of upheaval and reform, your legacy as a president of Hofstra University could be immortalized as one that ultimately helped an eternally marginalized people, or one that infamously did nothing for them, that let down those minds that this institution so wants to claim it enriches and uplifts. I only ask that you truly help us now, as the University and the nation look to you.
