As statements are written in broad support of Chancellor Wise
and the need for open dialogue and action across campus is rightly being
voiced, let us remember that we do not defend the sexually oppressed,
indigenous people, and people of color against bigotry as we should. The
University YMCA would like to take this opportunity to not only state our
support of Chancellor Wise, but to re-emphasize our commitment to diversity and
inclusion in all that we do as members of the campus and community.
It is our hope that as an organization that has a 141 year
history in enacting change at the University of Illinois that the public outcry
against intolerance will not fade until our campus understands that acceptance
must be demanded universally, not on a case-by- case basis. The hate speech directed towards Chancellor
Wise is disturbing, disgraceful, and infuriating, but not an anomaly. We cannot
continue to treat discrimination as the cause of a smattering of bigots across the
physical and digital landscape.
We will not in the face of structural racism accept pithy
slogans about freedom of speech. We need to support the true definition of
freedom, which must not be based on continued oppression of historically
oppressed peoples. At the University YMCA, our goals are clear: to make the
University Y and its programs not only as welcoming as possible to people of
all backgrounds, but to multicultural and anti-sexist coalition-building.
We have agreed that diversity should be evinced as we consider
our constituencies from many points of reference, including, religion, race,
ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and political outlook.
But, most importantly, for real change to happen, we have realized and
committed ourselves as an organization to uplift the societal vantage point of
the oppressed, not-so-public figures of our campus and community members who,
through their everyday experiences of exclusion, can best guide us in this
coalition-building.
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