Open Letter for an Anti-Racist University

Please sign this open letter to let the Executive Board know that Tilburg University must speak out and act against racism, on campus and in society at large.

When you’ve signed the letter, ask your classmates or colleagues to do the same by sharing this form with them. Please note that this letter is only intended to be signed by persons with some sort of relationship to Tilburg University, be they students, staff members, or alumni.

The Open Letter for an Anti-Racist University was first published on June 6, 2020 on Google Forms.

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Dear Executive Board,

We’re writing this letter to ask Tilburg University to take action regarding institutional racism at this time. Since the death of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis, protests against racism and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have spread all across the United States and across the world. In the Netherlands, large demonstrations have been held in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Eindhoven, Breda, and Tilburg and several other cities. Speaking out against racism is important because it does not only happen in the United States. The Netherlands too is a country where racism is institutionalized. Persons of color suffer significant discrimination when looking for jobs and internships, racial profiling by police is very common, and schools are increasingly segregated.

Tilburg University is not exempt from these issues. Persons of color are seriously underrepresented in teaching staff, and, recently, the University failed to address and explicitly condemn the racist motives of the violent attack suffered by a student of Asian descent on campus grounds. These are symptoms of racism systemic to our institution, as well as society at large.

The reason we decided to write this letter is that we believe that a university should always address societal issues. Tilburg University takes pride in being an international, multicultural, and socially responsible university dedicated to “understanding society.” Therefore, it should have a clear position regarding racism. For its international and Dutch students and staff of color to know that their university stands with them and supports them is indisputably important.

American activist and scholar Angela Davis once said: “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” Racism is a problem in Dutch society. Tilburg University can no longer get by as passively non-racist, but should be actively anti-racist. However, it has not only failed to speak out against racism at a crucial moment in time, also its policies to combat racism are disturbingly meager (e.g. race is only superficially mentioned in the Gender & Diversity Roadmap and racism is not mentioned at all). All in all, Tilburg University is failing to live up to its role as a leading institution in society.

The Executive Board doesn’t seem to have made an effort to say or do something so far, despite the present momentum of the worldwide movement against racism. So, we ask by way of this open letter that Tilburg University acts now against racism — in our institution and in society.

- We ask that Tilburg University publicly and unequivocally speaks out against racism.
- We ask that Tilburg University reviews its Gender & Diversity Roadmap to explicitly and seriously address issues of institutional racism and race-based discrimination.
- We ask that Tilburg University makes funds available to include conversations and curricular content about racism and the role of race in society (such as courses, (guest) lectures, study trips, and changes to syllabi).

Sincerely,

Fernanda Abraham, Loubna Bakra, Maciej Gadzala, Rianne Janssen, Rengin Tarhan, Itaï van de Wal, Jesse Germans, Buket Yenenler, Marit van Seumeren, Zuzanna Zboś, Florentine Bakkenes, Eva Schuurmans, Talitha Monster, Aafke van den Bergen, Robin Grielen, Emanuela Isac, Stijn Rombouts, Yvonne Jähnig, Caleb Tetteh Meyer, Nora Mizane, Amber van Ginneken, Eydís Rut Yngvadóttir, Ziad Hussein, Sophie Hamisch, Vanessa Nöring, Daniëlle Defoe, Ruoyda AlKhalil, Marie Wiegand, Linda Weber, Naledi Ramoabi, Temitope E. Ogunkuade, Itoroabasi Unang, Omer Omer, Vinzenz Müller, Cesar Panzo, David Janssens, Michiel Bot, Janne van den Bergh, Nina Verbeek, Marit Messelink, Sean Vieira Torres, Sterre Naaktgeboren, Zoe-Marie Jäger, Emilie van Wijngaarden, Lennart van Abbema, Anna Mangnus, Zoë Muijrers, Daan den Ouden, Louis Nottelmann, Hanne Hermens, Xueyan Li, Lison Hollebeek, Anna Polo, Thomas Tuerlings, Constanze Sendler, Linnet Taylor, Alfred Archer, Ute Sendler, Nathan Wildman, Imke Smit, Lena Beckers, Inge van de Ven, Simon Jacobs, Emerenz Hermann, Caya van der Plas, Alexandra Moran, Rebecca de Jongh, Franziska Fröhlich, Charlotte van Leeuwen, Heleen Sillekens, Zoë Meerschman, Maarten Canters, Laura Uhitil, Jelle Tuerlings, Lucie Chateau, Kristian Marinov, Khadija Rings, Irene Bijsterveld Muñoz, Merel Noorman, Suzanne van der Beek, Mijke Akkermans, Esther Keymolen, Daan Kolkman, Frederik Zwaan, Imke Dekkers, Mieke Löhrer, Wander Waals, Colette Cuijpers, Yvonne Schittenhelm, Petra Ploeg, Valerie Lange, Renate Creutzberg, Na Pan, Vera Schellekens, Mouna Elmi, Melissa Pellis, Charissa Freese, Casper Arends, Tim Hankart, Querida Essed, Luuk Nijhof, Mariek Vanden Abeele, Sophie Gorree, Maria Bianca Stoicescu, Fatou Sow, Tetyana Krupiy, Bram Medelli, Amanda Cawston, Eleonora Sciubba, Sanne van Driel, Hans-Georg Eilenberger, Yvette Drissen, Giuditta Ercolino, Willemijn Kranendonk, Marina Burger, Victoria Rosenfeldt, Darleen Hollmann, Meera Ghani, Meron Habte Essaias, Alici Haripershad…

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