Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include a statement from a university spokesperson and further information from a CSU professor.
Following a recent letter sent out by the Department of Education, Colorado State University students and community members gathered Wednesday to call on the administration to keep funding and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and Cultural Resource Centers. Beginning on the Lory Student Center Plaza followed by a march to the Administration Building, the protest brought around 300 people to campus for calls to action.
The letter, which has been labeled an attack on diversity, states that educators across the country have been “smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming and discipline,” and that such practices are “discriminatory.”
Shortly following the publication of the letter, CSU President Amy Parsons sent out a statement expressing confidence that CSU currently complies with the law but additional steps will be taken as necessary.
Many students were concerned for the future of CSU’s CRCs if funding is cut, as well as the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The initial gathering on The Plaza included safety information and various chants, including, “The students united will never be defeated,” and, “No DEI is unjust; education for all of us.”
CSU Vice President of Student Affairs Blanche Hughes was present on The Plaza but did not provide comment when approached, and directed The Collegian to CSU Marketing and Communications.
In an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon, CSU Associate Vice President for Communications said that the university did not have any further information to announce regarding the steps being taken following the DOE letter.
Associated Students of CSU President Nick DeSalvo was also in attendance and handed out papers to the crowd with information on how to contact local and federal elected officials.
The purpose of being at the protest was “to make it clear that the federal government can try to take away titles, they could take away job descriptions, they could take away physical meeting spaces, but they can’t take away a community that we choose to build together,” DeSalvo said. “And ultimately, that’s what this is all about, to show that we’re here and united; folks across backgrounds, coming together for a common cause.”
Following chanting and the march to the Administration Building, numerous students and community advocates spoke, including former director of El Centro, Guadalupe Salazar.
“El Centro was a home away from home for … almost 35 years, and this is sad today, what is happening, and I’m so happy that you’re here,” Salazar said. “I love the students. I love El Centro, and for it to be attacked today because of your president — not my president — we have to do this together, and we cannot take this just laying down.”
Ella Smith, a CSU student who worked to organize the protest with the CSU Student Coalition for DEIA, spoke at various points throughout the protest.
“They can try to take away our funding; they can try to take away our rights, but they can’t take away what we have right here: our community,” Smith said. “They can try to kill us, but they can’t kill us in any way that fucking matters.”
A document signed by CRCs and other offices on campus was read aloud by students, detailing changes that have been made across the university in an effort to comply with federal administrative guidelines.
“All DEI training for faculty and staff through the Office of Inclusive Excellence has been paused,” the document reads. “There have been indications that the academic department of race, gender and ethnic studies will be dismantled, but the program’s faculty and students have been insufficiently informed.”
Speeches followed the return to The Plaza as well, with a student from the Black/African American Cultural Center sharing their thoughts.
“They use us,” they said. “They use our bodies; they use our minds; they make us build this system and these structures. Our blood is on this soil, and they tell us that we do not deserve anything.”
Among community members in attendance was a man who shared his experience as a Navy veteran who fought during the Vietnam War.
“I am here to say that I still love this country,” he said. “What is happening now is abhorrent. … I am on Social Security. I lose that, I’m going to be living under a bridge with my wife. Believe you, me, we need to fight like hell. … I thank you all for being here. I’m glad I was able to speak. I’m surprised I was able to speak … God bless America.”
The protest ended with a call to action from Smith — not just to the administration but to the students.
“I want all of us to try to at least go and visit a minimum of one Cultural Resource Center,” they said. “Support our Centers.”
The future of CSU’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies remains uncertain as no further information has been made available.
“We are operating in a complete information blackout,” CSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors President Mary Van Buren said. “Faculty members and even the leadership of the Faculty Council are not being informed about the administration’s actions in response to the DOE letter.”
Reach Aubree Miller at news@collegian.com or on social media @aubreem07.
