Area college students protest racism
About 300 students from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, and other colleges in the Philadelphia area joined in a mass protest Thursday, echoing movements around the nation against racial issues at the University of Missouri and Yale University.
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About 300 students from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, and other colleges in the Philadelphia area joined in a mass protest Thursday, echoing movements around the nation against racial issues at the University of Missouri and Yale University.
"This is what democracy looks like!" some chanted. "Who are we? We are Yale! Who are we? We are Mizzou!"
The larger protest arose from two groups, starting with a much smaller Million Student March at Penn inspired by rallies around the country on economic issues, particularly huge student-loan debt. Those 15 or so students merged with the much larger antiracism protest organized by Students Organized for Unity and Liberation, commonly known as SOUL, a Penn student group.
Protesters marched from their perch in front of a statue of Benjamin Franklin at the heart of Penn's campus to an intersection near 30th Street Station, blocking streets and weaving among cars as they walked. Students sat cross-legged across the road by the train station as speakers from the crowd came forward and voiced their anger, outrage, and sadness.
The SOUL protest arose after student leaders distributed fliers and read out a list of demands at various points during the protest, urging all University City presidents to release a statement in solidarity with students of color at the University of Missouri and Yale.
They are also asking for University City schools to "create and enforce a comprehensive and mandatory racial awareness curriculum, and increase the number of courses centered around community organization and social justice," as well as adopt zero-tolerance policies for alleged "bigotry perpetrated by Greek organizations."
The list also included demands specific to Penn, such as increasing the proportion of black faculty and staff to 10 percent, adopting programs aimed at recruiting and retaining students of color, implementing sensitivity training for employees at Penn's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), hiring more CAPS staff of color, and establishing a social justice center that "provides resources for organizing students."
Another issue raised by protesters involved so-called PILOTS, or payments in lieu of taxes made by nonprofits such as Penn to the city. Some in the crowd said they thought Penn should give more money to the West Philadelphia area and to Philadelphia schools.
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