First and foremost, The Eagle would like to reaffirm its commitments to students, faculty and staff of color and of marginalized communities represented here at American University. We support, love and wish to uplift those who are the targets of the Confederate flags found hanging at American University, a racist and anti-semitic incident.
Additionally, The Eagle applauds the American University administration in their rapid, meaningful response and the work done over the summer to ensure dedicated space for students of color on campus.
Nonetheless, it is clear that the University administration still has work to do from its upper echelons to its Public Safety infrastructure. It is unsettling that non-members of our community are able to walk onto our campus for the purpose of intimidating and threatening specific members of our community, even with 600 security cameras around campus. This reality of “psychological terrorism” is extremely taxing for students who, just like all of us, are here seeking higher education. If the University is going to increase security and the number of Public Safety officers on campus, they also need to consider the effect that could have on students of color, as both students and Professor Ibram X. Kendi expressed.
We hope that this event can mark a turning point within our campus community for positive, effective change. However, we know that the threat of another attack is very real. We encourage a collaborative effort led by the University, with students, to produce methods across fields of study that combat these assaults on our campus community.
We are committed to illuminating varying perspectives and solutions to this campus problem through our coverage so that readers can make up their own minds about how they want the University to move forward. As a majority white organization, we must ensure that we are magnifying the voices of students of color and all who are affected by these actions. The Eagle will not step back from covering these issues and following how the University addresses -- or fails to address -- the concerns of students targeted by this incident.
In Strength,
The Eagle Staff
