UA BLM Fundraiser, Juneteenth Celebration, Consensus Decision

Mon Jun 15 23:39:45 EDT 2020

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Dear Undergrads,

The battle to end racial injustice is ongoing and complex. As a community, we must engage on multiple levels, including educating oneself, having difficult conversations with peers, protesting, volunteering, lobbying and donating money. As part of an ongoing effort to combat inequalities within our own community, we would like to update you on a few initiatives that the UA has been working on.

[https://mcusercontent.com/0cb9f68f0bc51d0385e5d8872/images/60ff9d7c-07b8-4d67-990d-20384b4526ce.png]Campus-wide fundraiser, matching program

We are officially announcing our Black Lives Matter Fundraiser.<http://ua.mit.edu/fundraiser> The UA, GSC, BSU, Class Councils, Dormcon, IFC, and Panhel have come together to organize a fundraiser in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We have collectively pledged to donate up to $25,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative<https://eji.org/>, National Urban League<https://nul.org/>, Massachusetts Bail Fund<https://www.massbailfund.org/>, Okra Project<https://www.theokraproject.com/>  and the Loveland Foundation<https://thelovelandfoundation.org/>. These five organizations have worked to support Black communities and fight against systemic racism. We'll be matching donations as well as donating money for civic engagement efforts. Please submit any receipts, screenshots of letters, or other materials to this google form<https://forms.gle/mWSfd9KiwJhBR1kR9>. On Thursday, June 18 from 6-8 PM ET we will be hosting a Zoom to draft letters to government officials<https://mit.zoom.us/j/91810716999>. We are hoping to raise $10,000 by Friday, June 19, also known as Juneteenth-a historic day for our country, honoring the end of chattel slavery. Learn more about the fundraiser here<http://ua.mit.edu/fundraiser> and keep track of the amount of money raised at <http://ua.mit.edu/fundraising-progress> this link<http://ua.mit.edu/fundraising-progress>.

UA celebrates Juneteenth

[https://mcusercontent.com/0cb9f68f0bc51d0385e5d8872/images/9e9b97e8-807a-4018-8352-faf030e957e4.png]The UA will be holding our first Juneteenth Weekend Brunch this Saturday, June 20th. We encourage all MIT undergraduates to join us as we learn more about the holiday and engage in community dialogue. For students who attend the event and choose to buy a meal from one of the thousands of black-owned businesses<https://docs.google.com/document/d/19uM-DEU7urJp9_150AZvbI0frgP9VfvN_8NCdwn-t6Y/edit> around the country, the UA will reimburse your meal up to $20 upon the submission of an itemized receipt. Please RSVP here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetlXkEj4NX9rkacAZDE3h12pv-OXWRtHBRi2UytZU4hc-yeg/viewform?usp=sf_link>.

UA consensus decision condemning racism and calling on MIT senior leadership to advance anti-racist solutions

Lastly, the UA Council has passed its first consensus decision<http://ua.mit.edu/s/6_11-UA-Council-Consensus-Decision.pdf> in recent history. In the decision, we affirm our commitment to several important initiatives [https://mcusercontent.com/0cb9f68f0bc51d0385e5d8872/images/130e7bd1-30b8-40a5-a4bf-085a5bc7633e.png] including the BLM fundraiser, the honoring of 'Indigenous Peoples' Day', securing funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion staff, encouraging MIT to publish intersectional admissions data and calling for the establishment of a memorial exploring MIT's racial history on campus.

As mentioned in my last email, if you are interested in engaging in conversations around policing please sign up here<https://forms.gle/3dMemkGswB2dRMtc6> and if you want the UA to publish a community effort<http://ua.mit.edu/community-efforts> please submit it here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsfrw4dy57OKVb9cTD2dHPUAXTQyXb7EMrcOGTPNo3ylkRMw/viewform>.

All of these steps are just a start and we are excited to push for change in many sectors of the Institute. As always if you have any questions or ideas, please email ua-questions at mit.edu<mailto:ua-questions at mit.edu>.

Best,
Danielle Geathers
President of the Undergraduate Association

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