Dear President Andrew Hamilton; Dr. Lisa Coleman, Senior Vice President for Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation; and Sanford Gordon, Chair of the Wilf Family Department of Politics

As Black Lives Matter protests continue to enact change across the country, it is long overdue for a reckoning of NYU’s role in systemic racism. We, concerned Politics students, are writing to demand that you expand the diversity of the Faculty of the NYU Wilf Family Department of Politics and hire Black professors. To our current knowledge and experience and in consultation with the faculty list as provided on the department website, there is not a single Black professor employed in the Department of Politics. For a school that touts its diversity and opportunity, this is an extreme disappointment to us. This department is responsible for crafting the minds of the future leaders of our communities, cities, states, and nations. Without any opportunity to learn about leadership, political systems and issues from someone with a lived experience of what it means to be Black in the United States and in the global community, we feel an extreme disservice is being done to us and the rest of your students. This is especially true considering how many of our political systems continually operate in a way that disproportionately affects the black population -- our criminal justice system, voting institutions, and healthcare policies, just to name a mere few. Despite having classes that have referenced these topics, there is a significant disadvantage from not learning these concepts in depth. Without a foolproof and concrete understanding of these structures, students like ourselves are at risk of perpetuating those same systems of oppression. We feel it is impossible to have a well-rounded and fully informed education without these perspectives available to learn from, and we demand an action plan to have these crucial voices made a part of our faculty. 

** If you are a current student, prospective student, or alumni of NYU, please include your name and class in the comments**