Only a few months after the Western Washington University president canceled classes in order to “go after” people who allegedly posted hate speech on social media, students at the school have come up with a list of demands that include creating a new school dedicated to social justice that awards $45,000 to “persxns” [sic] who participate in “de-colonial work on campus.”
The petition, created on Feb. 28 by a group of people who refer to themselves as the “Student Assembly for Power and Liberation,” seeks to address the school’s “systemic oppression embedded within our society that is inevitably upheld through this institution, as it was created to uphold white supremacy at its core.”
The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation’s top priority is the creation of a “College of Power and Liberation” in order to meet the alleged “growing needs and demands” for a school dedicated to “the histories and experiences of marginalized people.”
Yes, at a time when students with gender studies degrees are complaining about how they can’t find work in order to pay back their student loans, the students at WWU think it’s about time for a school to address the “growing needs and demands” for a social justice education.
The “College of Power and Liberation” would “serve all students by bringing the study of histories and communities that continue to be mis- and underrepresented into the mainstream curriculum at Western.”
The new college must apparently also be housed in its own “physical space.” Until a new space is created, however, the Student Assembly for Power and Liberation offers up the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry or the Rohr Center for Jewish Life to hold classes.
The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation also demands compensation for the people who study the “important yet difficult work of confronting racism, misogyny, trans- and homo-phobia on this campus.”
The Student Assembly for Power and Liberation writes, “The College of Power and Liberation demands an annually dedicated revenue of $45,000 for compensation of students and faculty doing de-colonial work on campus.”
It is unclear whether $45,000 would be allotted to each individual student or faculty member performing “de-colonial work” or whether the $45,000 would be rationed out depending on how much time someone dedicates to smashing the patriarchy or tweeting with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.
Another demand by the students includes the creation of an “Office for Social Transformation” to “monitor, document, and archive all racist, anti- black, transphobic, cissexist, misogynistic, ablest, homophobic, islamophobic, and otherwise oppressive behavior on campus.”
Individuals who commit some sort of oppressive behavior will be subject to a “three-strike” disciplinary rule. For professors who hurt feelings, punishments escalate from a “verbal warning” to “discharge.”
For students who feel like they have been “targeted by, harassed by, or has experienced excruciating acts of violence that was racialized, sexualized, gendered, based on ability, employment status, citizenship and/or mental health from the University” (AKA had their feelings hurt), the school must provide “tuition reimbursements.”
The petition currently has 278 signatures as of March 1.