By Nat Luftman, Alice Troop, and James Cordero
Being a Residential Assistant (RA) or a Peer Mentor (PM) at UMass Amherst is a true honor. In our roles as the Residential Life staff who support students living on campus, we have built meaningful relationships with dozens of residents and have fostered various living-learning communities. Thanks to our status as unionized workers, we are able to collectively bargain for dignified working conditions and wages.
Continue reading “A Job to Die For”
By: Elienishka Ramos Torres
On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, “Re-imagining Public Safety,” a zoom meeting hosted by several UMass Amherst student organizations, provided participants with an insight on their current goals of police abolition within the UMass community.
Continue reading “UMass Amherst Student Organizations Come Together in Starting Conversations on Police Reform and Abolition on Campus”By: UMass Amherst Racial Justice Coalition
Recently, Victor Woolridge, a member and former Chair of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, wrote an article calling upon America to acknowledge its history of anti-black racism and take concrete steps to achieve racial justice. We, a group of UMass students advocating for racial justice, wish to comment on Woolridge’s message. One of the few Black members of the Board of Trustees, Woolridge is, to our knowledge, the only member of the Board to publicly write about the need for systemic change following the death of George Floyd. Overall, we commend Trustee Woolridge for acknowledging the need for systemic change for racial justice–yet, that he is the only member of UMass’ Board of Trustees to publicly do so indicates that the UMass system itself has much work to do.
Continue reading “Trustee Woolridge: It’s Time for UMass to Live Up to Its Promise”
By Brie Thompson-Bristol
As I have continued to sit at home with family, counting the days of my life in quarantine, I can not help but weep. I am weeping for my community, I am weeping for my peers, and I am weeping for African Americans, Africans, and Black persons as we continue to battle against the hatred and bigotry that has threatened us since birth. I weep for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade who have been slaughtered by the United States police. I weep for the innocent protestors who scream in pain with us as we watch our black blood spread on the pavement all over broadcast news.
But most of all, I weep for these victims’ families and friends whose lives are now changed forever.
Continue reading “A Letter from the Editor-In-Chief: There is no Excuse for Racism and Police Brutality”By: Elienishka Ramos Torres
After a series of vague emails and unclear decisions from the UMass administration these past two weeks, thousands of students have voiced their anger for the university’s decisions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue reading “UMass to ZoomMass: Students frustrated over administration’s management of COVID-19”