University of Chicago student body hosts ‘BIPOC-only’ discussion on race on campus: Body previously called to defund university officers
A student group at UChicago is hosting an event just for BIPOC
The meeting will be a space for ‘honest discussion’ about issues of race on campus
The group previously called for UCPD to be defunded after they shot a black student
They were formed in 2017 after a series of racist incidents on campus, including flyers about Hitler and Nazism and a “racially insensitive” Cinco de Mayo frat party
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A University of Chicago student organization committed to ‘racial justice’ is hosting a Black, Native and Colored-only rally on race.
The event, described as ‘A BIPOC-ONLY space for honest discussion about navigating race at UChicago between new and old students,’ will be hosted by the group UChicago United on October 15th.
The event is titled ‘Race @ Chicago’ as part of its ‘Dis-orientation’ campaign. ‘BIPOC’ stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour.
Since Dis-Orientation 2022 invites students to sign up for events to learn about the ‘real’ UChicago.
The sign-up pages encourage new students to ‘learn about what UChicago doesn’t want you to know… and to build community with current students working for justice on and off campus!’
The group had previously called for the University of Chicago Police Department to be defunded following the shooting of black student Charles Soji Thomas while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
“Understanding the violence Charles suffered as part of a larger, systemic problem, our goal has always been to abolish our campus police force,” they write on their website.
A University of Chicago press group dedicated to racial justice is holding an event to candidly discuss racial issues on campus that is open only to black, indigenous and people of color.
The discussion is part of the group’s UChicago United fall ‘Dis-orientation 2022’ series of fall events
Flyers appeared on campus in December 2016 that appeared to glorify Hitler and Nazism, prompting concerned members of UChicago to form UChicago United
A construction-themed frat party for Cinco de Mayo was deemed racially insensitive and another provocation that motivated the founders of UChicago United
The comments during the Facebook event left no doubt that for some the event was racist
Some other events planned for the fall season include a meeting on anti-militarism, a workshop on policing, gentrification and abolition, and an ‘Activist Open House’ where students can meet ‘representatives from groups fighting for survival, migrants, labor, race. , environment, disability justice.’
The group UChicago United was formed in May 2017 by “students of color committed to racial justice” in response to a series of racist incidents that had occurred on campus, according to their website.
One of the inciting incidents that prompted the founders to form the group was allegations of a racially insensitive construction theme on Cinco de Mayo by one of the fraternity’s campus chapters.
Another was the distribution of flyers on campus promoting Nazi ideology and images of Hitler and swastikas by a group called the Atom Waffen Division. Their slogan was: ‘No degeneration, no tolerance, hail victory.’
UChicago United is pursuing a series of campaigns to work to “structurally transform the University of Chicago campus into a truly inclusive space that addresses the needs of and empowers students of color.”
One of the press group’s demands is to create a department to teach Critical Race Theory.
Among its other demands are calls for the university to hire more faculty of color, change its classes to be “less Euro-centric,” build cultural centers and create a department of ethnic studies.