The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020 galvanized America, provoking a racial reckoning that extended to the nation’s campuses. Colleges and universities rushed to issue statements of sympathy and to form task forces to make systemic changes. But America has a notoriously short attention span and a limited appetite for tough racial conversations. Two years later, how are institutions of higher learning remembering George Floyd? And are they living up to the promises made in his name?
Colleges and universities have offered a range of responses to the second anniversary of Floyd’s murder.
The University of California, Davis is not officially acknowledging the anniversary, leaving it for students and teachers to discuss themselves. Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, just 10 miles from the scene of Floyd’s death, issued a statement inviting students to participate in the nearby George Floyd Global Memorial. A day of action honoring Floyd and others murdered by police is planned for June. The University of California, Irvine is commemorating the anniversary with a virtual screening of the 2021 documentary Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, as well as a panel discussion with its writer, Jeffrey Robinson. Some, however, are using the date to hold more elaborate events and to reflect on their progress over the past two years.
Oregon State University will mark the anniversary by hosting its inaugural State of Black Affairs Summit. The summit will feature speakers and panel discussions on topics including supporting Black mental health, DEI work in the current climate, and recruiting and retaining Black talent (OSU currently has fewer than 100 Black employees).
The summit is being organized by the President’s Commission on the Status of Black Faculty and Staff Affairs (PCSBFSA), which was formed at OSU in the wake of Floyd’s murder. According to Dr. Tenisha Tevis, an assistant professor in the College of Education and co-chair of the PCSBFSA, the choice of the anniversary for the summit was significant.
“George Floyd’s death was a wake-up call for this nation, so we wanted to use this particular date as a check-in, as a barometer,” said Tevis. “We wanted to know how far have we come as a commission, as an institution?”
Tevis believes that the PCSBFSA has made progress beyond platitudes and superficial solutions.
