Dear Fellow Graduate Students,
We are writing to address the deeply concerning events that have recently taken place on our campus. The deployment of police forces against peaceful student protesters, resulting in the arrest of over 130 individuals, was deeply troubling and disheartening to witness. We stand in solidarity with our students, faculty, and staff who have been affected by these actions, and condemn, in the strongest sense, the overwhelming police intervention present on May 7th.
As leaders of the graduate student body, it is our primary responsibility to hold both ourselves and the administration accountable for creating a safe and inclusive environment for all members of our community. The escalation of tensions since the April 29th encampment has led us to a point where police brutality has come to the forefront, and we must take decisive action to address these issues.
We are also extremely upset that the GSS was not consulted before the deployment of the police force. We believe that student voices should always be heard, especially in times as complicated and tense as these. We believe the lack of consultation led to an uninformed and ill-managed situation that put the safety and security of our whole campus at risk.
Over the past 48 hours, the Graduate Student Senate has been actively engaging with various stakeholders to find a path forward. We have spoken with the Faculty Senate, SGA leadership, and students involved in the protests. We have also taken the initiative to issue demands to Chancellor Reyes, calling upon him to present himself at a special meeting of the GSS. In this meeting he will answer to the student body regarding the decision to utilize police and the process undertaken to come to this choice.
To facilitate an open dialogue, hold the administration accountable, and provide answers to us, the students, to make an informed decision on our stance on the leadership of this University, the GSS is calling for a special meeting of the Senate on May 14th from 4pm to 6pm.
We urge all of you to reach out to your senators to give them your opinions and express to them how they should proceed. We are also calling on you, the students, to submit questions using this form to ask the Chancellor before Monday at 5pm. These questions will not be shared with the administration beforehand, and are a way to make sure we can touch on anything students would like to question administration on. After this questioning period, the Senate shall decide upon their next course of action and an opinion poll shall be conducted to determine the opinion of students to inform what is ultimately the Senate’s decision on how to proceed. We urge your attendance at this meeting for the benefit of the GSS and all graduate students in finding a solution to these troubling circumstances.
We as students have a primary responsibility to ensure that UMass is led by leadership in which we have complete confidence in. However, it is important to hear all voices of students on this matter regardless of what they have to say. Amplification of all student voices is integral to the success of student safety, opportunity, and wellbeing, and it is the responsibility of the GSS to provide a platform for this to occur and for our community to move forward.
During our meeting with Chancellor Reyes yesterday, we presented a demand for the creation of a risk management strategy and proposed a working group specifically focused on addressing divestment and student demands. We believe a strategy like this can prevent police intervention, like we saw, from ever happening on this campus again.
Furthermore, we call upon Chancellor Reyes to take immediate action to support the students who were arrested while exercising their right to peaceful protest. Specifically, we ask that the Chancellor remove the reporting requirement of disciplinary action in the Student Code of Conduct for all students who were arrested during the May 7th protest and of the UMass 57. It is crucial that students who engage in peaceful demonstrations are not subjected to further punishment or disciplinary action by the university.
As the Graduate Student Senate, we have a responsibility to find solutions to these problems and demonstrate leadership at a time when we all need it the most. We must show that we are better than the administration. We will hold them accountable and demand a clear path forward, while also giving them an opportunity to actually support students in a way that was completely absent on May 7th.
We invite all graduate students to attend the special meeting of the Senate on May 14th and to send us your questions for the Chancellor. After the discussion with the administration they will leave. At this point the Senate will continue the meeting to develop a response to the information provided. We will make sure that every voice will be heard and amplified through this governance body.
It is the actual revolutionary spirit of UMass that the GSS seeks to embody, and together, we as students are strong. We, the students, have been, are, and will always be the driving force behind this university, and it is up to us to carve a path forward.
Agenda
Register for the Special Senate Meeting of the Graduate Student Senate
In Solidarity,
The GSS Executive Team
