West Virginia University’s Concerned Black Community, an organization of current and past faculty, staff, students and alumni, has issued nine demands to the university over what it says has been a failure to provide an equitable experience at WVU.

In a letter sent to President E. Gordon Gee and others within the university system, the community said while WVU has been focusing in recent weeks on the inequities for African-Americans at the university, “the actual change is not being implemented.”

“We are done having conversations that are built upon no action and serve only as a checkbox for diversity or improve public relations. The Black community is not adequately supported at West Virginia University. We do not have equitable resources or support. As our state’s flagship university, we expect better. We deserve better,” the group wrote.

“The university made sure to adequately address the concerns and implement policies upon returning on campus this fall concerning COVID-19. We would like to see the same effort applied towards the over 400-year-long crisis of police brutality and racial inequality felt by Black people in America. … If West Virginia University is proactive in providing equitable policies and equitable financial support for programming, staff, and faculty, situations like the one we have been faced with can be alleviated and even somewhat avoided. The way that West Virginia University handles these circumstances must be critically reexamined and changed in the lens of equity for the Black community.”

The group is demanding the following:

1. West Virginia University must implement mandatory, required diversity and anti-racism training for

students, faculty, and staff; similarly to the mandatory COVID-19 education module that students must

complete before returning on campus, with the goal of creating a culturally aware, diverse, and

inclusive culture. Topics shall include, but not be limited to, identity, bias, power, privilege, and

oppression.

2. West Virginia University must revise the Campus Student Conduct Code and Employee Code of

Conduct to not only address discrimination, but to hold students, faculty, and staff accountable to

incidents of racially insensitive actions such as Blackface, lynching, and the use of derogatory racial

terms and language.

3. West Virginia University officials must promote the mental health of Black people, not only through

intent but through representation, by hiring at least three additional Black counselors, therapists, and

psychiatrists at the Carruth Center in order to fulfill its mission of fostering a supportive and inclusive

environment for all members of the West Virginia University community.

4. West Virginia University must prioritize a budget for initiatives that promote the development of Black students to lead, make a positive impact, and build an academic community. West Virginia University must acknowledge and publicly promote the following programs that are already engaged with Black students as critical parts of the West Virginia University experience.

5. West Virginia University must diversify its faculty and staff by developing a public and easily accessible

strategic plan for recruitment and retention of Black employees.

6. West Virginia University must enhance the co-curricular experience for students of color. Specifically,

the Division of Student Life must provide established additional

funding greater than $1,500 per fiscal year and support to each Black student organizations campus-wide programming and initiatives.

7. West Virginia University must reevaluate the responsibilities of the Division of Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion and the Center for Black Culture and Research and reinstate an Office of Multicultural

Programs.

8. West Virginia University must provide a guaranteed, annual number of graduate assistantships for

Black students. These graduate assistantships can not only be at the Center for Black Culture and

Research or in the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. West Virginia University, specifically the

Honors College, must recruit and retain Black students in the Fall of 2021 incoming freshman class.

9. West Virginia University must prioritize a budget to increase academic opportunities for students to

study Blackness, African-American studies, and Africana coursework to provide students with an intellectual appreciation and understanding of the history and cultures of Black people throughout the world. This increase in funding and opportunity will work to correct the distorted, whitewashed historical record of peoples of African descent as well as bridge the gap between the African and African-American experience.

The group is asking for its demands to be implemented no later than the Fall of 2020 and all to be

implemented by Spring 2021.

WVU on Thursday said Gee and the university’s board of governors would address the matter on Friday.

“West Virginia University has received a petition citing several areas for improvement and increased support in the university’s pledge to oppose racism in all its forms. The petition outlines multiple actions to rectify the shortcomings.

“We are grateful to those who challenge us to live up to our ideals and words. We recognize the University – indeed all of society – has not progressed as much as is needed. This University will be intentional in listening, learning and doing better.

“A university, especially one as large as WVU, is a microcosm of society as a whole. We can all agree that racism, whether overt or hidden, has never been properly or honestly addressed in this country, despite sporadic progressive steps over the years.

“We are listening. We do not have all the answers, however, the University will stand together with our community and get to work on those things that must change.

“On Friday, June 19, the WVU Board of Governors and President Gordon Gee will address concerns and announce actions that will be taken in the short-term, as well as long-term. Our challenges did not develop overnight, nor will they be erased overnight. With positive intent and a willingness to learn and transform, we will be better.