The Student Council Executive Board released a statement Thursday endorsing the demands put forth to the University by the Black Student Alliance and numerous other student groups following recent white nationalist events in Charlottesville.
Following a presentation of the list of demands to University President Teresa Sullivan at the “March to Reclaim Our Grounds” earlier this week, Student Council held a town hall meeting for students in order to “formally gather student concerns and feedback.” Several students at the event urged Student Council to sign on to the demands.
Included in the demands are for the University to remove the Confederate plaques on the Rotunda and consider placing them in “a museum or in Special Collections.” The list also calls for the Lawn to be declared a residential space in order to forbid concealed arms and open flames, and for the University to recontextualize the statue of Thomas Jefferson north of the Rotunda with a plaque.
The Executive Board said in their statement that it “wholeheartedly endorses the demands” and called on the Representative Body “to pass a resolution in support of the demands.”
“We are committed to working with the Representative Body and University administrators to identify opportunities to create and bolster policies in pursuit of the demands,” the statement said.
The demands also laid out measures for increased diversification, stating that African-American enrollment at the University should match Virginia’s demographics and that the number of faculty for an underrepresented group should proportionally match the student population of that group.
The Executive Board supported these by pledging to support “BSA and the entire student body and combating racism and bigotry in all its forms.”
“We remain committed to protecting and improving the rights, opportunities and quality of life of all students at the University of Virginia,” the statement said.
Full list of the demands:
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