Below is a letter recommending action items for the Purdue University Administration to begin implementing. If you would like to add your signature, please do so here (this will not be publicly shown). If you would like to add your organization’s name for support, please email blackatpurdue@gmail.com and we will add it to the list below.

For further recommendations on the College or Department level, please see the National Society for Black Engineers’ (NSBE’s) letter to the College of Engineering.

Reasonable Expectations for Action and Accountability:

1. Issue a public statement signed by the Board of Trustees and Mitch Daniels recognizing that Purdue has a deeply rooted history of racism and the following statements:

1. Purdue is on Kickapoo Land.
2. West Lafayette was a Sundown Town, and as such, Black individuals were not permitted to live in West Lafayette (including the Purdue residence halls).

1. Purdue President Hovde refused to permit Black students to live in on-campus housing, and it wasn’t until he was pressured by the Indiana Governor at the time that he eventually agreed.
2. President Hovde is merely one example of a history of racism by Purdue University’s Presidents.

3. With each incident shared on the @blackatpurdue page, it is evident that racism is still an issue at Purdue and needs to be addressed.

2. University Response to Hate Incidents:

1. University statement revolve around free speech

1. The first response to hate incidents should not revolve around free speech but instead condemn the hate and provide a strong affirmation that the incidents of hate will not be tolerated on campus.
2. “Strong responses acknowledge the importance of protecting free speech and make unequivocally clear that standing against hate does not weaken support for free speech, nor for the breadth of diverse political opinions to which all campuses should strive.” Source 

2. University responses should include action plans

1. University statements are not enough to combat the roots of the incident. Deliberate action must be taken even if it is not against the specific perpetrator, and students must be held accountable for incidents of racism and hate crimes.
2. Plans must be created and enacted to work toward the elimination of future hate incidents. This could include restorative justice, in which the perpetrator is first educated.

3. The reporting process

1. The current reporting processes and systems are fundamentally broken. With this as common knowledge, racism is rarely reported - 88% of submissions to the @blackatpurdue page said they did not report what happened to them to Purdue.
2. When racism IS reported to the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), the University’s response:

1. Takes a long time, often multiple months, which communicates that responding to racism is not a priority for the University
2. Does not include a genuine apology or acknowledgement that Purdue is responsible for the culture it creates and maintains
3. Never includes specific actions to make changes to systems and cultures that leave space for racism

3. The reporting system must be replaced by a system that resolves the previously listed issues. Furthermore, trust must be regained of the students impacted by incidents of racism by the implementation and publicization of the new system, as the statistics demonstrate that students do not trust the current reporting system.

3. Commit to Increasing Diversity on Campus:

1. Recruitment and Retention of Black Faculty

1. Utilize the Purdue Employee Retention Guide and the Faculty Retention and Success through Intergroup Dialogue and Inclusion Alliance (FIDIA)

1. The frameworks are already in place with the Alliance team but there needs to be an effort to continue these initiatives.
2. The Alliance team needs to include individuals of all backgrounds, especially BIPOC.

2. Recruitment and Retention of Black Students

1. Indiana’s population is about 8-9% Black so for a simple, reasonable goal: within the next 8 years, Purdue will increase its ratio of Black students to 8% of its population.
2. This goal can be accomplished by beginning to implement the Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Students

4. Education:

1. Implicit Bias Training

1. Mandatory, annual racial equity/implicit bias training for incoming students as pre-arrival homework.
2. Additionally, all faculty and staff must also participate in annual implicit bias training.

2. School of Interdisciplinary Studies Funding

1. The funding for the School of Interdisciplinary Studies must be kept, at minimum, at the level of the 2019-2020 Academic Year. As the department which houses the study of nearly every minority group, it is imperative that it remains well-funded.

3. Additional Curricula for African-American Studies Department

1. Out of the 14 BIG10 Universities, over half have at least one regularly taught African language. If Purdue wants to be on par with the BIG10 universities, it would be in Purdue’s best interest to fund the study of at least one African language.

5. Student Life:

1. CAPS

1. Diversify therapists

1. Ensure that half of newly recruited therapists are BIPOC.
2. This study found that race-matching in therapy led to higher satisfaction from Black clients.
3. Students commented on this @blackatpurdue post on Instagram reporting their experiences of racially-motivated mistreatment. This story was also individually submitted, where the student was turned away altogether.

2. Increase in funding

1. CAPS budget must be increased to allow for the number of individual therapists to be doubled.
2. Financial assistance must be made available after a student surpasses the number of free sessions.
3. One comment which seemed to sum up the experiences of most students was, “I’ve literally never met a student who recommended/had a positive experience with y’all. Every single student I’ve talked to about CAPS has said that they felt like y’all just wanted them to get out ASAP, and that you were ‘too busy’ for them.” (from @blackatpurdue post)
4. How other BIG10 Universities handle mental health

3. Mental health alternatives to Purdue University Police Department (PUPD)

1. It would be in the best interest of Purdue to implement a therapist-on-call system for welfare checks and mental health concerns instead of calling PUPD. At present, PUPD is being over-utilized for nonviolent concerns about a person’s wellbeing, which has resulted in violence due to implicit bias.

2. Greek Life

1. Greek Life as it stands

1. This study concluded that due to financial requirements and recruitment processes, only certain types of people can manage to join Greek Life, and that those who can have access to “a vast alumni network, luxury on-campus housing, and are often excused from scrutiny due to their position (Ray and Rosow 2012; Syrett 2009)”. Therefore, members are given advantages that others cannot even get the chance to access.
2. From the many posts on @blackatpurdue regarding Greek Life, it is evident that this holds true.

2. Going forward

1. Students commented on this post on @blackatpurdue on Instagram with suggestions for Greek Life.
2. Diversity Tree Plaque

1. Purdue must install a plaque by the Diversity Tree detailing its symbolism and importance in the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council community by the end of September using the design the Multicultural Greek Council has proposed.
2. Anyone that vandalizes that tree after the plaque is installed must be held to the same standards of vandalizing school property by paying a fine to the organization that was painted over, and repaint the tree in the base color. If the vandal was a member of an organization, the organization must also pay a fine to the council of the organization that was painted on the tree.

3. Accountability:

1. Purdue must restructure the judicial system for Greek disciplinary action by investigating organizations with complaints or accusations of racial incidents or creating an unsafe, unwelcoming environment for BIPOC individuals and should suspend their ability to host functions until the investigation is concluded.

4. FSCL Diversity Committee

1. With the development of the FSCL Diversity Committee, this body must be empowered to make actual, measurable change to Greek life on campus.

Assessing Progress

1. A quarterly progress report on the work that has been accomplished regarding the recommendations listed above, including data, should be published for public knowledge.
2. In the creation and implementation of the plans above, input from Black faculty, staff, and students must be included, and they must be compensated for their labor.
3. A survey every semester should be sent out via email inviting BIPOC students to self-report their experience on campus in relation to safety, feeling valued, and quality of services offered to these students. This will provide a way for the administrators to see how progress has impacted students, and to easily compare the progress made each year.

Signed,