Three student leaders at the University of Kansas (KU) have been asked to resign from their positions in the Student Senate by Wednesday after “not standing in solidarity with their black peers,” according to the Associated Press. The demands come soon after the University of Missouri’s president, Tim Wolfe, resigned due to students protesting that he did not do enough to respond to racism on campus.
The Student Executive Committee has called for the resignation of Student Body President and Vice President, Jessie Pringle and Zach George, respectively, along with Chief of Staff, Adam Moon. The committee voted 6-3 “no confidence” on Friday, with one member abstaining.
In response to these events, KU Chancellor, Bernadette Gray-Little, organized a town hall forum where students could talk openly about race related issues on campus. According the Associated Press, a student-run group, Rock Chalk Invisible Chalk, presented a list of diversity demands at the forum. Demands were also posted on Twitter, and include diversity training for faculty and staff, the issuing of a campus climate survey, and an increase in the number of underrepresented and undocumented students.
These are our demands. #RockChalkInvisibleHawk #HowMuchMore pic.twitter.com/JaZFKPrGaT
— Invisible Hawks (@InvisibleHawks) November 12, 2015
The demand that Pringle, George, and Moon resign came after they did not “proclaim that Black Lives Matter” at the forum. The three have since released a statement saying that black lives matter at the University of Kansas.
Recent KU graduate John Cowan is on a hunger strike until the university meets the Invisible Hawks’ list of demands. Cowan is white.
“I’m kind of at an advantage because of my white privilege, so my suffering is self-inflicted,” he told the Lawrence Journal-World. “Others don’t have that choice, it’s inflicted upon them.”
Chancellor Gray-Little has stated that she and the university will announce how the school will move forward early this week.