PC students consider president’s agreement a small victory
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
Nearly 50 students sat in the office of the Providence College president for more than 12 hours Tuesday with a list of demands. They consider the end result a small victory.
“It was a relief. Thirteen hours is a long time to stay in one area. Some people were on hunger strikes and didn’t eat for 13-14 hours so it was very relieving,” said sophomore Adriel Antoine.
These students say there’s been a racism problem on campus for years but say the tipping point was two weeks ago when five female students were allegedly turned away from a party, called names and had bottles thrown at them because of the color of their skin. It ignited protests around campus.
"We decided to respond to it and our response got a response so we just kept the momentum going,” said sophomore Chalayna Smart.
The students came to President Brian Shanley’s office with a list of demands, outlining ways they believe will solve the school’s racism problem. Around 9:30 p.m., President Shanley signed an agreement.
"The president signed an agreement not agreeing to all of the demands but agreeing to present an action plan toward reaching a resolution of many of those demands,” said Associate Vice President of Providence College Steven Maurano.
The demands include a cluster hiring of black faculty over the next five years, incorporating new curriculum and hiring a senior vice president for inclusion and diversity on campus.
"Many of those are issues that cannot just wave a magic wand and happen over night. They require the input of other constituencies on campus,” said Maurano.
In writing, Shanley agreed to develop a comprehensive plan and put it into action by 4 p.m. on March 7th.
"Having this in writing gives everybody accountability and it gives Father Shanley accountability. It makes him commit to something,” said Antoine.
Maurano tells ABC6 he has seen several protests over the years but says there hasn’t been a sit in like what happened Tuesday in decades.
© WLNE-TV 2016
