HUNTER COLLEGE–By Monday evening, when Hunter College President Jennifer Raab released a statement on the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer, protests against police brutality had already gripped New York City, and cities across the United States, for four days.
Yet Raab’s statement, while it denounced racism and Floyd’s death, did not mention the Black Lives Matter movement or the protests in which many Hunter students have been involved, nor did it outline any new actions the college would take to combat racism. “The horrific murder of George Floyd compels us to confront systemic racism through a new and urgent lens,” Raab wrote, including quotes from former president Barack Obama and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Some students didn’t think the statement was enough, and they took their opinions to social media.
