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Occidental College students occupying the administration building to protest racism and sexual assault gained support from professors on Thursday.
As the occupation by several hundred activists at the Los Angeles college stretched into a fourth day, the faculty council unanimously approved a resolution expressing “full support of the Oxy United for Black Liberation students’ actions and the demands for the culture around racism and diversity in the institution to change.”
Oxy United for Black Liberation is a coalition created by members of Oxy’s Black Student Alliance and a group called Coalition at Oxy for Diversity and Equity, or CODE. The students have said they plan to occupy the administration building until at least Friday, or until President Jonathan Veitch accepts their demands. At least 400 students, at the school of 2,000, have participated, according to organizers.
Activists last week presented the administration at the liberal arts college with 14 demands, including the resignation of Veitch. Student protesters said they want Veitch to quit because of his responses to concerns about the college’s treatment of marginalized students and its handling of sexual assaults.
Veitch sent a campus email Wednesday night, co-signed by Board of Trustees Chairman Chris Calkins and Dean of Faculty Jorge Gonzalez, accepting or promising to study all but one of the demands. The only one Veitch flat-out rejected was the call for his resignation. “The president is committed to addressing the critical issues of diversity and cultural sensitivity at Occidental,” he wrote.
Veitch proposed establishing “a neutral mediator to work with administration, faculty, and student representatives to help restore trust and pathways for dialogue.”
