A grassroots group of students issued a series of demands regarding racial diversity to University President Rev. William P. Leahy, SJ on April 2. The students, who go by the name Obeying No Establishment (ONE), have held rallies around campus and sent e-mails to professors in order to bring attention to their proposal.
Among ONE's 16 demands are finalization of candidates for the position of director of the Office of Affirmative Action by May 3, and the modification of the History core curriculum in favor of more diverse, less euro-centric material. The group also demands that the Boston College Police Department release a report twice a year with statistical information on the race and gender of its suspects, saying that this will "bring light to" the presence of BCPD racial profiling.
Most recently, the group reissued its demand that the College of Arts & Sciences diversify the history core curriculum by April 13 and spread word of its demand to professors via an e-mail statement. "For a truly comprehensive knowledge of global history, students should have the option of learning history from a non-European perspective," the statement read. "By requiring Western History in the Core Curriculum, Boston College is ignoring the relevance of other world views and is thus perpetuating the tyrannical behavior of Western culture."
"The statement ended with the words "we expect full compliance with this demand by 5 p.m. today, Tuesday, April 13."
The most immediate demand from ONE called for Leahy or a representative from his office to issue a public statement reaffirming BC's commitment to affirmative action programs at a rally on April 5. The events that unfolded at that rally have placed a strain on the relationship between the members of ONE and some administrators on campus.
When the clock struck noon, the members of ONE saw that no representative of the president was in the crowd and abandoned the rally in order to walk to Leahy's office on Old Colony Road to deliver another copy of their demands, as well as a statement criticizing his decision not to appear at the rally.
Upon seeing the group of students walk away, Dean for Student Development Robert Sherwood approached them and offered to speak on the University's behalf until a representative from the president's office arrived. The members of ONE ignored Sherwood and continued to walk toward Upper Campus.
"I said that I represented the administration and had some statements to make, and the group just walked away," said Sherwood. "I'm very disappointed in what happened [on Monday]."
When the members of ONE arrived at Leahy's office, they allegedly found the door locked. Unable to speak to anyone, they then walked back to the quad at approximately 12:15 p.m.
While members of ONE had been walking to Upper Campus, two representatives of the President arrived in the Quad: Vice President of Student Affairs Cheryl Presley and Executive Assistant to the President James Lehane.
Presley read a statement regarding ONE's demands to the remaining students and faculty in attendance which said that University officials would be willing to discuss the proposal if representatives of ONE scheduled a private meeting.
"I need you to know that this discussion can not be advanced through an anonymous list of demands. This is simply not the basis for constructive dialogue," Presley added.
By the time the members of ONE returned to the quad, Presley had finished reading her statement. Jose Lopez, a member of ONE and A&S '05, approached the microphone to issue a statement of his own.
"We marched to Fr. Leahy's office to deliver a statement. We knocked on the door and found it for the first time, locked, at 12:15 on a Monday. We just realized that BC has adopted a close door policy," said Lopez.
After hearing Lopez's statement from the audience, Presley offered to reread her statement for those that had missed it. While she reread her statement, the students of the ONE movement began to disperse.
Lehane noticed they were leaving during his colleague's speech, and, using the microphone, asked them to remain.
Lopez walked over to the speaker and disconnected the microphone while Lehane was speaking - an action that Lehane has since called "very disrespectful."
"I left with the feeling that they didn't actually want to have a dialogue about these important issues," Lehane said."Many of their actions showed a lack of respect for the people that showed up. Dr. Presley was trying to do her job, and she was not allowed to do that."
Lehane added that many of the deadlines ONE gave for changes to be made are "completely unrealistic," including the demand for finalization of candidates for the position of Director of Affirmative Action by May 3. "We are going to select candidates for that position that are qualified. It is not a process that can be rushed. We currently have an interim director of the office who has 15 years of experience, so that office is in very good hands."
Members of ONE have not been willing to speak about their campaign in order to preserve the anonymity of the group. Some members of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) have ties with the ONE movement.
UGBC President Derrick Williams said that, despite the criticism ONE has endured from some administrators, he will continue to endorse the group's work. "It's not really my place to speculate on the methods they use. If they present their views in a way that raises tension and raises eyebrows, that's one way to get the message across," he said. "We will continue to work with faculty and administrators, because we represent the students, and we want to ensure communication."
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