Just over a month ago, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police. Since then, students have been relentlessly advocating for change in the UMPD. We’ve used many techniques in attempt to have our voices heard, including marches, sit-ins, die-ins, letter writing campaigns, and resolutions, yet the University has changed nothing. We have had little acknowledgement that University administration is actually considering students’ demands rather than watered-down versions that create no legitimate change to the unsafe campus environment.

The University Senate is calling a special meeting on Monday, June 29th, and student proposals for community control of police and for the disarmament of UMPD were intentionally left off the docket. Likewise, the meeting is not public for student comments. Therefore, we're contacting President Gabel, her assistant Megan Sweet, Senate Chair Amy Pittenger, Vice Chair Carol Chomsky and Senate Associate Amber Bathke, demanding that these student proposals be added to the docket, that the meeting be made public for students, and that time be added to the docket for student questions. Students are the most important stakeholder at the University and we demand that the administration give us space to make our demands heard.