We firmly believe that Bates is failing to live up to the radical egalitarian principles that this College was founded upon. On Saturday, May 13 at a dance hosted by the Bates Women of Color, a black male student was forcibly grabbed by a Bates Security officer, violently taken to the ground, placed in a headlock and ultimately handcuffed in front of his peers. His spirit has not been br

oken. We believe that the College has not taken appropriate action in responding to this incident of clear racial violence. Further, we know through personal experience that this incident is not singular – it is one of many examples of injustice that Bates Security officers have committed against students of color on campus in recent years. We are here organized in non-violent direct action seeking immediate change.

1. We want Honesty from President Spencer

President Clayton Spencer’s email response concealed the reality that Bates Security used excessive force during this incident. Further, the message sent to students, faculty and staff did not directly address the fact that the student detained was a person of color and the role anti-black racial bias played in this incident. We believe President Spencer has a responsibility to notify all members of the Bates community (i.e. including alumni and parents) of this event and the role that racism played.

2. We want Bates Security fired

We believe the excessive force used and incompetence exhibited during the incident was so egregious as to warrant the immediate firing of both security officers involved. They detained in handcuffs a non-violent Bates student and turned a Village common room into a public prison cell.

3. We want a Progressive Head of Security

Bates is now searching for a new Director of Security. We believe the person hired must have a radically different vision of what security ought to be. That person (most preferably a person of color) should first and foremost have the health and well being of all students in mind. They must be deeply familiar with the realities of racial injustice in the United States and have the prior experience and leadership abilities to reshape Bates security from a group set on “policing” students – to a group set on fostering communication and trusting relationships with all students at Bates and particularly students of color on campus.

4. We want a transparent and just re-write of the Bates Security Policy

Nowhere in the Bates Student Handbook is there any mention of the procedures and methods Security officers are supposed to follow when interacting with students. The reality is that Campus Security officers at Bates treat students (and especially students of color) in a punitive and dehumanizing manner. Often times they search our rooms without reason and without asking. We believe that we have a right to know the official security policy on how to interact with students (if there is one) and we also believe we have a fundamental right to privacy.

5. We believe that there is no middle ground for white students, faculty and admins

You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Students of color experience the effects of racism at Bates every day. Bates is not immune from “real world” issues of racial injustice. This event proves this fact. White people make up 61% of the student body, 79% of the faculty, and the overwhelming majority of the administration – we need your committed support right now to effect change.

6. We believe that Bates has problems (many), but can learn from its radical past

Bates was founded on the idea that anybody – regardless of race, class, or gender – deserved an equal opportunity to receive an education. Thus, Bates has admitted black students for its entire 162-year history. Bates (1855) admitted women over 100 years before Bowdoin (1969), Williams (1971), and Amherst (1980). That’s our radical past. Our question: what radical decisions is Bates making today (2017) to put the College 100 years ahead of our peer schools? Our answer: none.

We call on Bates students, staff, faculty, alumni, administration and security to rekindle the flame of our radical egalitarian ethos as the College charts its future course through its Bates+You capital campaign.

This weekend our friend was arrested by a Bates security officer outside of the Benjamin E. Mays center. He was publically humiliated – and forced to feel less than human. We call on the words of one of Bates’ most dignified graduates – Professor Benjamin Elijah Mays (class of 1920) to remind us of what Bates College ought to be for all students – and especially students of color: “Bates College did not ‘emancipate’ me: it did the far greater service of making it possible for me to emancipate myself, to accept with dignity my own worth as a free man.”

Since 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion — Amore ac Studio — we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times.