Morgan Baskin

A newly formed group of students at Western Washington University, called the Student Assembly for Power and Liberation, tired of "the legacy of colonialism," are demanding upwards of $100,000 in university money to create a College of Power and Liberation.

As explained in a petition posted online Feb. 28, the university would focus on studying the histories of under- and misrepresented communities.

It would "meet the growing needs ... for social justice, especially those (movements) that reflect the histories and experiences of marginalized peoples," the petition reads.

The petition comes in the wake of an investigation into how the Bellingham, Wash., school's police department handled a race-based threat against a student last fall. Sophomore Tysen Dane Campbell was charged with malicious harassment after posting "Let's lynch her" on Yik Yak in reference to the president of the Associated Students of WWU, Belina Seare, according to The Bellingham Herald.





The SAPL demands that the group have "direct input and decision-making power" over faculty hiring decisions for the college. In terms of a space, the SAPL calls the existing WWU alumni house as an acceptable "temporary" space until the university administration commits to funding a new building.

The group is also asking that the college's annual budget include money for a Student Emergency Fund, which would award aid to low-income, minority students at the discretion of a committee of students, faculty and staff of the college.

Among its other hefty demands: $50,000 "to put on an opening event that will introduce the College and its mission"; $45,000 annually to serve as payment for students and faculty "doing de-colonial work on campus." The group defined "de-colonial work" as "providing space and resources to learn alternate histories, supporting student's non academic work, emotional and intellectual labor that is not about publishing or service to the institution, providing often unrecognized trainings, workshops, and/or interventions on behalf of students. "





SAPL is also petitioning for the creation of a 15-person, paid student committee, called The Office for Social Transformation, to "monitor, document, and archive all racist, anti- black, transphobic, cissexist, misogynistic, ablest, homophobic, islamophobic, and otherwise oppressive behavior on campus."

About 440 people have signed the petition since it went live last week.

In a statement to USA TODAY College, SAPL said that WWU's administration has not directly responded to their list of demands.

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard, in an email statement obtained by USA TODAY College, said that "the proposal would fundamentally contradict our policies, practices, mutually bargained contracts, and federal law and policy on such matters as faculty evaluation and discipline, student conduct and discipline, the investigation of alleged racist behaviors, and the planning of facilities, spaces, and residence halls. I further find, in the proposal, language possibly threatening our core commitments to campus-wide inclusivity and, again possibly, to academic freedom." The proposal, he added, "is also problematic for it would have large budgetary impacts but is missing a critical component of any complete proposal; namely, a credible approach for funding.”



Morgan Baskin is a student at George Washington University and is a USA TODAY intern.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.