Students spread out inside Evans Hall, many with their laptops in front of them, and sat in solidarity as they awaited the result of another day of the sit-in organized by OU’s Black Emergency Response Team.
For many outside of the building, life continued as usual. Yet support within the OU community grew beyond Evans Hall among the peers and professors of those involved in the sit-in.
Some individuals, both directly and indirectly affected by the events that led to the sit-in, expressed their support for the protest on Twitter.
For those of you who think this is “about a word”- it’s not. It’s deeper and more pervasive and completely unacceptable. I see you. As a Jewish and Native student, I stand with you. I strike with you. #thehateyouhire https://t.co/vZKUIgBd8B
— Graham Aryeh (@chahtaboy97) February 26, 2020
If you are not in support of your Black peers and @BERT_OU , you are already situating yourself on the wrong side of history. To the students in Evans Hall for the second night in a row, I stand in solidarity with you. Change WILL come. #TheHateYouHire
— Javi (@javiouslyy) February 27, 2020
Organizations outside of OU, including the Big XII Council on Black Student Government and the University of Texas Black Student Alliance, also tweeted their support for the sit-in.
On campus, the LGBTQ+ Program Advisory Board of the Gender + Equality Center and OU College Democrats also expressed support for the protesters. Some faculty members recognized the actions of their students by extending academic accommodations for those participating at Evans Hall.
Members of the OU Faculty Senate released a statement encouraging faculty to “provide support to our students and these efforts in multiple ways,” including through the addition of alternative classroom opportunities.
Isaac Kabrick, a student in OU political science associate professor Justin Wert’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties class, said Wert canceled class “to accommodate those students who want to participate in the sit-in.”
OU history of science associate professor Kathleen Crowther, who teaches HSCI 3023, said in an email that she offered extended time on assignments and flexible deadlines for those involved in the sit-in.
“I think the students participating in the sit-in are doing vital work to make the university a better place, and this is just my small way of offering them support,” Crowther said.
Another OU professor, who wished to remain anonymous, held two classes in Evans Hall in addition to tutoring some students who stayed overnight.
The professor said OU faculty members need to learn from students about racial justice.
“Students should have the confidence that they can come into classroom space and not hear racial slurs and dehumanizing language, and right now we don't have that confidence,” the professor said.
Students have been addressing issues at OU through efforts like these over the last few years, the professor said.
“I think students right now are doing the work that faculty and staff, especially faculty, are being paid to do and are refusing to do — students are here doing that work,” the professor said.
The sit-in also drew support from OU alumna and former Oklahoma Sen. Anastasia Pittman, who returned to campus to stand with BERT officer Destinee Dickson and to help amplify the voices of students.
“We don't want this scarlet mark on our legacy, and so if I need to come to the campus to support (the) voices of the students, I will do that because we have often heard that the voices of the faculty and staff are protected by the (First) Amendment rights, (but) students have rights,” Pittman said.
Pittman said the students’ demands, which included the creation of a multicultural building and the resignation of Provost Kyle Harper, must be considered with the knowledge that these students are in college and this is what concerns them.
“They have a right to say, this campus, this environment, this culture is uncomfortable,” Pittman said. “And we're not going to just keep sweeping it under the rug, you know, so it's about tolerance. It's about equality.”
