[Scroll down to sign. Read an update here: http://tiny.cc/takeaction.]

To QC President Frank Wu and Chief Diversity Officer/Dean of Diversity Jerima DeWese,

We support the requests voiced by the collective staff, faculty, and students of Delany Hall in response to the acts of racial and antisemitic hatred carried out on January 6 in that space--the only building on the QC campus named to honor a person of color, Dr. Lloyd T. Delany.

While we appreciate the update you sent on January 19, there remain several unresolved demands that urgently need addressing:

- You have not acknowledged the emotional and psychological impacts that this attack has caused the residents of Delany Hall. Instead,

      - You suggest that students, faculty, and staff contact the QC Counseling Center, yet the counseling center–like most campus services–lacks  appropriately resourced staffing to meet the immediate or long term needs of those who were targeted.

     - You offer that those students victimized can reach out to Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jennifer Jarvis. However, her office and division lack resources and power toward creating meaningful solutions. As we have seen in the as-yet-unresolved case of an instructor who repeatedly and defiantly used the N word in a class this past fall over the objections of students.

     - You have not acknowledged that anti-Blackness, in addition to anti-semitism, is at the heart of the messaging. Instead you negate the criminal act directed toward Black people by referring to the incident solely as  “antisemitic and racist hate symbols.” We understand that we should center anti-Blackness given the history of the building and the identity of who is most impacted on campus, it is important to raise this point without overshadowing any group. It is clear that Delany, a historical building named after a Black faculty member, was targeted primarily with these messages that equate to threats of violence that disrupt the safe space it provides for Black students. It is Queens College that has the second-lowest percentage of Black students in the CUNY system, despite being located in and near multiple Black neighborhoods. Your failure to act speedily and precisely merely serves to further distance Black students from QC physically and emotionally.  

     - While there has been talk of protecting Delany Hall and its artwork, little talk or action has gone into acknowledging and addressing the injury to the humanity of the people who are based in the building. Time and resources need to be committed to a special meeting before the start date of the spring semester, when students, faculty and staff are expected to go back into the building. The following needs to be accomplished at this meeting:
           * Collective development and agreement on  appropriate security measures; until that time, we want
           * Assignment of trained safety staff to patrol the perimeter of the building and to protect–and not harass or police–the students, staff, and faculty of Delany.

     - You noted that “a thorough fact-finding investigation was initiated,” which seems to have no end date or time table.  This is a disturbing failure as it only serves to increase uncertainty and inspire doubt in your and the college’s ability to provide a safe work environment.

In solidarity, we seek a safe work environment for all the residents of Delany Hall.  

We have asked before and are asking again as demands and in support of our colleagues’ requests:

     - An empowered committee to develop a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for hate inspired behaviors at QC with member selection oversight from a collective that centers minoritized students, faculty, and staff.

     - An enforcement arm of the committee empowered to design and implement actions for violations of said collectively designed policy. A stated time line for the committee to complete its tasks within the Spring 2022 term.

     - To make Queens College a safe space for all persons regardless of creed, color, gender, or ethnicity, the QC administration must ensure that the DEI Dean partners with staff, faculty, and students from Africana Studies, CERRU, SEEK and other programs supporting marginalized groups to strengthen and develop their programming, and CUNY and Queens College must provide ample economic and physical resources and institutional support for these programs. These programs, in particular SEEK, that have consistently proven their value in promoting social justice and racial equity should not have to beg for “Strategic Plan Implementation Grants” to get the resources they already have earned many times over, desperately need, and richly deserve.

Thank you in advance for your swift and serious attention to these demands.

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