A statement calling on the Northwestern administration to comply with demands related to Black students’ well-being and safety was released Monday night.

The letter lists six official demands: an in-person meeting between its authors and the administration within seven days, consultation by Multicultural Student Affairs on decisions that affect the Black House, funding increases for Black student-led organizations, a review of NU recruitment and admissions policies, an end to the policing of Black spaces and a plan for the University to meet the demands of the 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover.

The Bursar’s Office Takeover was a student occupation of the Bursar’s Office after Black student organizations presented a list of demands regarding racism on campus to the administration. 

“With the 55th anniversary of the Bursar’s Takeover quickly approaching, it has become abundantly clear that the university does not carry concern for its student body to the extent that it claims. It has been 55 years since the Bursar’s Takeover, and most of the B100’s demands remain unmet,” the document states. “Not only do we see remnants of this school’s oppressive past every day through the university’s lack of response to these demands, but we see exactly how these structures’ remaining intact prevents its Black students from realizing the same levels of success as their non-black peers.”

According to the letter, the unmet demands from the Bursar’s Office Takeover include a statement acknowledging institutional racism at the University, an increase in student scholarships, the creation of residential colleges for Black students and the hiring of a Black counselor.

The statement calls on NU to respond to its demands by 5 p.m. Friday.

“If these demands go ignored, as so many have, the student body will organize local and national media attention, protests, walk-outs, sit-ins, and more until we, as students of this institution, are heard,” the letter states.

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