As UConn students rally for ‘Peaceful Planet’, school declares racism a public health crisis

Hartford Courant - 10/6/2021

UConn declared racism a public health crisis during a student-led walkout and “Rally for a Peaceful Planet” Wednesday at the Storrs campus, meeting one of a few demands a coalition of groups brought to the event.

UConn junior and Manchester resident Michael Christy, 20, who helped organize the event, said the declarations from student government and administrators means the university will be “unmistakably willing, able and determined to address the serious health issues that exist within racism.”

“It means transparency, honesty and communication must become the key factors between students, faculty staff and administrators [in] addressing racist policies that exist on this very campus,” said Christy, who serves as the student body chief diversity officer. “It means not calling each other out, but calling each other in to work as a community to address these deep-rooted issues.”

Students also called on the Biden administration to raise the nation’s cap on refugee admissions from 125,000 to at least 200,000, end the 1033 program — which helps law enforcement agencies to obtain military equipment, according to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency — and heighten efforts to address climate change.

The university declarations follow a series of high-profile anti-Semitic and racist incidents during the previous two school years, including property damage and the shouting of slurs on the Storrs campus. UConn researchers surveying students of color have also found that many individuals report feeling isolated on campus, with the classroom being a particularly common location students feel uncomfortable in or avoid. The state legislature passed a bill declaring racism a public health hazard in Connecticut in June.

“Despite our efforts, racism and public health disparities exist everywhere, including here at the University of Connecticut,” said interim UConn President and UConn Health CEO Andrew Agwunobi. “These disparities include food insecurity, mental health challenges ... the results of microaggressions and bias incidents on health [and] the results of climate change on marginalized populations.”

To address racism and public health issues, Agwunobi said he, students, staff and faculty will work together to improve current practices and policies, including those regarding access to mental health services, the hiring and retention of faculty of color and support for the school’s cultural and human rights centers.

UConn Provost Carl Lejuez said one thing administrators “have done really poorly is engage with you as students about what we are doing” to handle issues of bias and racism at the school.

“These efforts are underway but we have not engaged students as part of solving the problem together,” he said. “So you have a commitment ... that you will see greater engagement with us.”

In response, junior and Black Student Association Vice President Hannah Ravenell said students want to see administrators place more priority on hiring more diverse faculty and staff across departments, increasing funding for student health and food and housing support services, and requiring a course on antiracism.

“It’s beyond time to demonstrate substantive and material change that the student body can tangibly feel,” she said. “Under today’s declaration, these no longer get to be areas of low-rank priority or just additional items on the UConn admin to-do list.”

Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com.