UNT System Against Cop City: Students, Faculty, Alumni and Allies
UNT Board of Regents, Presidents, and Administration
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SIGN NOW to demand the UNT System and UNT Dallas withdraw from partnership with the Dallas Police Department to construct a new police training compound on UNT Dallas’ campus. This construction, projected to cost $140 million with $80 million secured, is expected to break ground in 2025. We need your help to stop this construction and keep students safe! Our goal is to collect at least 1,000 signatures to maximize our chance to make an impact!
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To:
UNT Board of Regents, Presidents, and Administration
From:
[Your Name]
As students of the UNT system, we call on the UNT Board of Regents, presidents, and administration to abide by UNT’s values, act in the best interests of our communities, and oppose the construction of a police training academy for the Dallas Police Department on the UNT Dallas campus.
Whereas, the May Dallas bond election approved $50 million under Proposition F to support the UNT system's police training academy, which is projected to cost 150 million.
Whereas, our University system has repeatedly missed and overlooked opportunities to invest in our own community. A recent taskforce has demonstrated 40% of the Health Science Center Campus’ students experience food insecurity. UNT Dallas only houses 120 students while 300-400 students seek housing options. We ask that we start by modeling what a culture of safety looks like in a community starting on our own campuses.
Whereas, police state violence disproportionately impacts communities of color and systematically targets specific populations to further sustain oppressive systems. Over 80% of UNT Dallas students are students of color. 96% of Dallas City Council District 8 comprises Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Whereas, shared tactics with the Israeli Occupation forces are being weaponized in Gaza today and are the same ones that killed Hector Arreola, George Floyd, Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin, and so many more US civilians.
Whereas, our collective representatives of UNT System Against Cop City are terrified about the implications of this partnership with the Dallas Police Department, other unspecified law enforcement entities, and the detrimental effects this new police training compound will have on the institution and our surrounding communities. Such as increased policing, surveillance, and oppression of student voices- currently happening, as we watch students, faculty, and community members being brutalized for legally expressing their dissent with their institutions' decisions.
Resolved, we demand the following of our university system:
1. UNT Dallas and the UNT System withdraw from the Dallas Police Department partnership for the construction of a new police training compound.
2. Full disclosure of which regional, national, and abroad police and military entities would train at this training compound, as well as a comprehensive list detailing the recruit training tactics and practices.
3. Complete divestment from all holdings in any entities that sponsor oppression, occupation, apartheid, and genocide in the world.
4. Re-investment in underfunded and under-resourced student and academic programming, facilities, food security, and housing.
5. Systematic and itemized report to review university system funds utilization.
UNT System Against Cop City