92 ASU faculty sign letter supporting anti-racist student protests Two associate deans and about a dozen school and program directors signed the letter, which supports students speaking out and protesting for racial justice on college campuses.

Kaila White | The Republic | azcentral.com

More than 90 Arizona State University faculty members signed an open letter to students, released last Monday, expressing support for students protesting for racial justice on college campuses across the U.S. as well as ASU students, "particularly students of color, who are speaking up for a better ASU."

“We recognize that issues of institutional racism are pervasive,” the letter stated. “We stand with the many former, current and future ASU students, faculty and staff who have and will continue to speak up and act courageously to close the gap between ASU’s ideals and our lived realities on campus.”

Signing the letter were two associate deans and about a dozen school and program directors, including those from programs in American Indian studies, transborder studies, theater, creative writing and English.

More than two dozen tenured professors also signed from positions in history, women and gender studies, African-American studies and psychology.

Racial tensions on Arizona college campuses?

The letter opens by stating that the signing faculty "are committed to social justice" and, after observing "the recent wave of student protests for racial justice on college campuses across the U.S.," are "affirming our commitment to creating a campus environment in which all students can thrive."

They expressed solidarity with students, faculty and staff who have protested about race relations on campus at 24 universities across the U.S. in the past two months. October protests over race relations at the University of Missouri, including faculty walkouts and the football team's refusal to play, forced the resignation of university President Tim Wolfe.

"This is really about the national climate but it’s also a recognition that ASU does not exist in a vacuum," said signer Matt Garcia, who is a professor and director of ASU's School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. "We all want to do better."

ASU President Michael Crow said he was unaware of the letter the day it came out, but supported a small group of students' recent march on Tempe campus in solidarity with student protests at the University of Missouri.

"I think we have a student community that is respectful and, in general, harmonious," Crow said. "It doesn’t mean we don’t have individual problems but we don’t have a lot of other issues, knock on wood, and so I think that we work very hard to create the right kind of environment and we will continue to work hard for that environment."

ASU has yet to see protests or walkouts like those on other campuses.

On Tuesday, TheDemands.org posted lists of demands from student groups at 67 universities across the country, mostly for schools to hire more minority professors, offer cultural-sensitivity training and create cultural centers on campus. No Arizona universities are on the list.

The letter from ASU faculty encourages students to voice their concerns.

"As faculty, we recognize the leadership roles students and youth continue to have in the most important social movements of our time. We are here. We are ready to listen, work with, and support you in your efforts to make ASU an institution that is truly welcoming and nurturing for all."

Though it does not mention any specific incidents, the letter comes after a series of race-related incidents involving ASU students and faculty this year.

Notable race-related news at ASU in 2015

JANUARY: Controversial 'Problem of Whiteness' class

An ASU course called "U.S. Race Theory & the Problem of Whiteness" gained national attention in January when Fox News host Elisabeth Hasselbeck called the course "quite unfair, and wrong and pointed" on "Fox & Friends."

ASU professor Lee Bebout began receiving hate mail and comments about him on White-supremacist websites starting the day it aired. ASU released a statement supporting the class.

FEBRUARY: ASU officer resigns over incident with professor

An Arizona State University police officer resigned in February after an independent investigation found fault with his arrest of a university professor in 2014.

Officer Stewart Ferrin had been on leave since July 2014 after a video of his arrest of ASU assistant professor Ersula Ore drew nationwide attention. Dashboard-camera video of the arrest shows Ferrin repeatedly telling Ore to put her hands behind her back.

When she refuses, he tells her he will "slam" her on the police car, according to the video. Footage shows the officer tackling her to the ground. Civil-rights groups claimed Ore was targeted for her race. She is Black.

MARCH: White nationalists on campus

A few supporters of the National Youth Front, a White nationalist group with a Phoenix chapter, protested the “Problem of Whiteness” class on ASU's Tempe campus in March. Among them was Harry Hughes, a local member of the White-supremacist National Socialist Movement.

A handful of ASU students and Tempe residents responded by protesting and hosting meetings about the nationalists' presence.

APRIL: ASU condemns 'hate speech' and 'hate groups'

A small group carrying signs and yelling anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim sentiments demonstrated in April on ASU's Tempe campus and outside the Islamic Community Center of Tempe near campus.

They ripped pages out of the Quran, spit and stomped on them, and preached against Islam, calling people in the mosque "infidels" who would "burn in hell."

ASU issued a statement signed by an administrator, police, student organizations and the director of the Anti-Defamation League in Arizona that denounced that and prior “hate-speech incidents,” expressing opposition to the “presence and activities of hate groups in our community.”

OCTOBER: ASU asks fans to not paint faces before 'blackout' game

ASU’s Sun Devil Athletics posted a message in October asking fans not to paint their faces at any sporting event, a request made days before ASU Football’s annual “blackout” game.

Last year, the game sparked controversy when a few fans wore black facepaint to the game, which some said too closely echoed blackface, a form of theatrical makeup widely regarded as racist.

During the backlash in the weeks after that game, the African-American student coalition at ASU and other leaders called for a ban on all face paint. In the end, ASU asked fans not to paint their faces for any games but did not ban its use.

NOVEMBER: A letter and march in solidarity

Three ASU students wrote a letter published by the State Press criticizing ASU as a “predominantly White institution” where, “as Sun Devils of color, we have to deal with systemic racism and micro-aggressions above and beyond being concerned about our education.

“It would be great if it were innovative enough to create methods to combat the racism students of color face on campus. And asking student football fans to voluntarily choose not to wear blackface to a Blackout Sun Devil football game is not innovative enough to make us feel welcome in the Sun Devil family,” the letter stated.

The next day, students from the Black African Coalition and the ASU chapter of the NAACP organized a march on ASU’s Tempe campus to express solidarity with the protesters on other campuses and the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole.