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On June 3, @copsoutofNU sent a petition letter to senior leadership at @NorthwesternU demanding that the University disband NUPD, sever ties with EPD & CPD, and invest in programs that support and uplift Black students, staff, faculty, & community members. (1/n)
Over the summer, they attempted to have dialogues with senior admin about these demands. Admin often showed up unprepared and some, like President Morty Schapiro and VP of Business & Finance Craig Johnson, failed to show up at all. (2/n)
After 131 days of "dialogue" and trying to get admin to the table, @copsoutofNU decided to take it to the streets. They marched for over 30 consecutive days, demanding that NU and Evanston abolish police. (3/n)
While the daily actions were well attended, they did not garner national attention until Pres. Schapiro released a statement on 10/19 condemning student protestors, telling them they should be ashamed of their actions at a protest on 10/17. (4/n)
His statement (a portion of which was published in the @WSJ opeds) was met with backlash from departments across campus for its anti-Blackness, its severity, and what many saw as giving the OK for police to escalate at subsequent actions. (5/n)
5 days after he released this statement, students were met with an escalated police presence at an action, including officers from NUPD, EPD, and NIPAS. Students shared with the @thedailynu that officers physically harmed them that night. (6/n) https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/10/26/campus/nucnc-protests-police-outside-football-season-opener-stands-with-black-athletes/
A week later, students were gassed and beaten at @copsoutofNU's Halloween march. Despite the University's commitments to student safety, health, and well-being, they did not release a statement to the community or the public about this event. (7/n) https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/11/01/campus/sexual-assault-campus/students-pepper-sprayed-one-arrested-during-halloween-action-to-abolish-nupd/
As @copsoutofNU continued to host both physical and daily actions, student journalists began researching NIPAS, the group that was brought in to escalate police response at these actions. (8/n) https://www.sceneandheardnu.com/content/the-nipas-occupation-how-epd-uses-unidentified-outsider-police-to-handle-student-protestors
This past week, these journalists have shared disturbing text messages exchanged between NIPAS officers about the @copsoutofNU actions, including texts where they complain about not being close enough to shatter protestors' kneecaps. (9/n) https://twitter.com/alexhairysun/status/1339617834096324608
@NorthwesternU has responded to this revelation with a tepid, mildly worded objection to the language used by NIPAS officers. Nowhere in the statement do they object to the actual actions taken to physically harm their students. (10/n) https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/12/university-statement-nipas-officers/&fj=1?linkId=107450297
So, here we find ourselves, 195 days since @copsoutofNU shared their demands. They have yet to meet with Pres Schapiro. They have, instead, been vilified by him. They have, instead, been brutalized by police. They have, instead, been surveilled and threatened. (11/n)
What is going on on this campus is despicable. Watching Pres. Schapiro talk about his commitments to racial & social justice, while refusing to acknowledge how his own actions have harmed Black students on campus is nauseating. (12/n)
I hope (as I often do) that this will be a turning point. That more alumni, faculty, staff, & community members will be outraged enough to take direct action in support of @copsoutofNU. (13/n)
But I also know that somehow, for some people, this isn't enough. This isn't enough to convince them to withhold donations to NU. It isn't enough to convince them to even zap admin. It isn't enough to convince them that Black NU lives & works in a hostile environment. (14/n)
So, what will be enough? What will tip the scales? (n/n)
