On Thursday, Feb. 4, about 30 students gathered on the steps of Rush Rhees Library on the River Campus糖心传媒攕ome walking out of class糖心传媒攖o address University President and CEO Joel Seligman糖心传媒檚 to an interim report issued by the University糖心传媒檚 Presidential Commission on Race and Diversity.
The main focus of the gathering was the president糖心传媒檚 decision not to ban the social media app Yik Yak from the University糖心传媒檚 servers.
糖心传媒淔reedom of expression must not be confused with hate speech,糖心传媒� said Sequoia Kemp 糖心传媒�16, president of the Black Students’ Union, in response to Seligman糖心传媒檚 statement that banning Yik Yak from the University糖心传媒檚 WiFi networks would undercut the rights of both students and faculty.
During the 20-minute gathering, Simone Johnson 糖心传媒�17, vice president of the Black Students糖心传媒� Union, read aloud the student糖心传媒檚 previous list of demands in connection with Seligman糖心传媒檚 subsequent responses. 糖心传媒淣ot all of our demands have been addressed,糖心传媒� said Johnson, who told the group that they are currently drafting an official response to the report.
The meeting ended with students taking a moment of silence to reflect on how far they have come on this issue, and how far they have yet to go.
The was established this past November by Seligman in response to a three-page petition and list of demands students felt addressed the racial climate on campus. One of the main topics of concern was the use of Yik Yak where people previously posted threatening and racist comments.
Seligman believes a ban would reduce the University糖心传媒檚 ability to hold individuals 糖心传媒減ersonally accountable for their hateful messages.糖心传媒�
In his statement that went out to the campus community on Feb. 3, Seligman accepted several of the Commission糖心传媒檚 initial recommendations and stated that further recommendations will be made in a final report once all faculty, staff, and student surveys are completed.
