SUNY Potsdam students protested what they see as inadequate school security measures on Nov. 30 in light of a threat against a black professor found on campus.
Roughly 100 students took part in the demonstrations, which lasted for hours, to voice their concerns about school security and racism on campus, according to North Country Now.
Monday’s protests came a week after a racist and homophobic death threat directed at Professor John Youngblood and the campus community was discovered on Nov. 24. The professor had received similar threats during the last academic year. A former student was arrested and charged for the earlier threats.
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The protesting students marched through campus and into the registrar’s office, where they requested the papers necessary to transfer, then marched into Dean of Students Chip Morris’ office. Morris had several conversations with smaller groups of students and university President Kristin Esterberg also met with students to address their concerns.
The university recently began requiring more university police on duty and asked retired officers to return in security officer roles. The school has also requested that other colleges in the SUNY system provide officers to bolster campus security.
