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The Harvard Coalition for Black Lives

We are a coalition of Harvard graduate student organizations and we are contacting you to see if you and your department will support our open letter to Harvard President Larry Bacow, attached below. This letter was sent to President Bacow at 8:46am this morning, a time that represents the eight minutes and forty-six seconds George Floyd was pinned to the ground with Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, murdering him. 

As you may know, several members of the Harvard administration have sent out emails to show support of the Black community and have asked how they may help. Perhaps this was you recently, lending support to your department through an email and wondering if there is more you can do to support your students, faculty, and staff. Here are 3 ways you can take action and show your words of support have meaning.

  1. Sign OUR petition to support our open letter to President Larry Bacow
  2. (Harvard Affiliates only) Record the donations you have made. We want President Larry to match the dollar amount of Harvard Community giving and donate this money to organizations in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
  3. Share this petition and open letter with your network and email lists #matchmeHarvard
  4. Identify ways you and your school can better support the Black community within and outside the walls of Harvard. Examples are included below. 

Our open letter is intended as a reply to recent emails and as a call to action for President Bacow and Harvard. We have already garnered support from various stakeholders, and we hope to add the support of you and your department. 

Sincerely, 

The Harvard Coalition for Black Lives

Examples of actions your department can take, now and in the future: 

  • Donate money and/or supplies to support protesters locally and nationwide (ie. National Bail Fund Network, Black Lives Matter Boston)
  • Provide and require training on implicit bias and bystander intervention for all faculty, students, and staff
  • Create a committee on diversity, inclusion, and equity to evaluate the implementation any new actions and to institutionalize your department’s commitment 
  • Hire and promote Black faculty to tenure
  • Create a fellowship to support the scholarship of Black graduate students
  • Partner with or create community outreach programs to share your scholarship with the community and to provide learning opportunities for Black youth (ie. public seminars, summer programs, internships)

 

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