Photo by Ricky Osborne
Multiple coalitions of POC students delivered demands to George Bridges and other members of the administration. We suspect they will cotinue to grow and change as this story progresses. Here are the current demands that came out of last week’s events—
We demand that no changes to The Student Code of Conduct be made without democratic student consent. We demand consent as distinct and separate from input in the process of revising the codes that govern us. The coalition of black students and students of color that are submitting these demands will nominate 5 black students to inhabit a Student Code of Conduct Task Force by the end of Spring Quarter 2017. The Student Code of Conduct task force will be an autonomous body from the office of Student Affairs, will employ a consensus based decision making process, and will have ratifying and veto power over all revisions to the student code of conduct. The office of Student Affairs will submit revisions of the Student Code of Conduct to the Task Force and will not implement those revisions until the Task Force gives their written approval. The task force will do no labor other than review changes presented and say yes or no. The students placed on that task force will each be paid a stipend of $500 a quarter until the Student Code of Conduct is approved. We demand that no one is charged with a student code of conduct violation until these revisions are finalized. No one is charged for the demonstrations of the past two weeks beginning May 14th.
We demand that Officer Timothy O’Dell be fired and (Suspended during the investigation)suspended without pay while an investigation takes place. We demand Officer O’Dell be fired if he is guilty of using excessive force and aggression when responding to student protesting. When responding to the call made by Brett Weinstein, O’Dell did not ask questions. O’Dell started violently pushing through students who were trying to protect black students. O’Dell was asked to stopped and students expressed that they weren’t dangerous. O’Dell refused to listen. O’dell continued to knock students over in attempt to reach the black students. O’Dell was targeting people of color.
We demand the immediate firing of Andrea Seabert Olsen, the Assistant to the VP for Student Conduct, from all Evergreen State College Positions. We request that no transfer happen but a complete removal. Seabert Olsen has shown a consistent often violent flaw in judgement when it pertains to the needs and safety of Black students, other students of color, Trans students, students with disabilities, students who have experienced sexual assault. Seabert Olsen has been given an ample amount of time to educate herself about the needs of more marginalized students and has failed to show evidence of effort or effectiveness. We believe that at this point there is no way for Andrea Seabert Olsen to redeem herself as her reputation directly influences her ability to do her job. The students who are in the most danger in the current climate and culture of both the Evergreen campus and the United States do not view Seabert Olsen as a safe person to seek help from.
We demand no expansion of police facilities or services at any point in the future. We demand that police services sell all of their lethal and less than lethal weapons and donate the money to manifestation of demands enumerated here. This demand entails that at no point in the planning stages of any expansion of campus facilities should plans be articulated or students, staff, administrators, faculty, or contractors be paid to work on plans to provide increased office space, increased surveillance technology, or more or expanded holding cells to Police Services. We demand for the institution to create a student collective to develop and implement alternative to policing.
We demand mandatory sensitivity and cultural competency training for faculty, staff, administrators, and student employees. Hire the Aorta Collective or a comparable anti-oppression training collective to develop a plan for mandatory trainings for all Faculty, staff, and student employees. We demand anonymous evaluation forms for students to evaluate all faculty.
We demand the creation of an Equity Center in the 4th floor of the Library Building. We demand a remodel that will accommodate students and have movable walls for caucusing spaces. This Equity Center must be fully staffed and must have an assistant director, innovative program coordinator, case manager and student advisors. We demand that Equity Center have it’s own budget and be connected to the new VP/ VP for Equity and Inclusion.
We demand for the coordinator of the Trans & Queer Center to be permanently hired full time. Currently, they are temporarily hired and their contract ends in June.
We demand the creation of a permanent position that will support undocumented students. This position will have a budget that will create scholarships, housing, and protections.
We demand that the video created for Day of Absence and Day of Presence that was stolen by white supremacists and edited to expose and ridicule the students and staff be taken down by the administration this Friday.
We demand Bret Weinstein be suspended immediately without pay but all students receive full credit.
We demand an official statement on each of these demands from George Bridges that is divided up into 10 sections on this Friday May 26th, 2017.
We demand that no changes to The Student Code of Conduct be made without democratic student consent.
We demand that Officer Timothy O’Dell be fired and suspended without pay while an investigation takes place.
We demand the immediate firing of Andrea Seabert Olsen, the Assistant to the VP for Student Conduct, from all Evergreen State College positions.
We demand the immediate disarming of Police Services and no expansion of police facilities or services at any point in the future.
We demand mandatory sensitivity and cultural competency training for faculty, staff, administrators, and student employees.
We demand the creation of an Equity Center
We demand for the coordinator of the Trans & Queer Center to be permanently hired full time.
We demand the creation of a position that will support undocumented students.
