We spoke to the students behind the Villanova Black Lives Matter protest

About 40 Villanova students and faculty took to The Oreo to stage a Black Lives Matter protest on Friday. In the midst of homecoming weekend, the protest seemed more dramatic than ever, drawing a modest crowd to arguably the most central location on campus.

The protest was officially organized by The Association for Change and Transformation (ACT), perhaps better known as the organization which puts on the well-known diversity skit at the beginning of each school year.

University students and ACT board members, Nahya Bullock and Victoria Nelson were two major leaders of the protest. Other protestors included students from outside the organization, students from multicultural organizations like the Black Cultural Society, and faculty from peace and justice and sociology departments.

The purpose of the protest was to identify and work to change racial inequality on Villanova’s campus, according to organizers.

Photo taken by Kyle Garino and distributed by Nahya Bullock

“This came from the exhaustion of constantly seeing important people on campus such as deans, Father Peter, the Board of Trustees, just ignoring the fact that there is a huge issue here on campus,” Nahya Bullock, the protest coordinator,  told The Tab.

“My main motivation is simply my desire to spread awareness and show that even though we are in this Villanova bubble, these issues are present here on campus and also in ‘the outside world’ of Villanova. I always here the quote ‘Not only black lives matter, all lives matter.’ When I hear this, it is exactly why I believe that raising awareness and explaining the actual movement is important.”

The protest was intentionally staged in a central location on campus to draw the maximum amount of attention to the cause, according to one protestor, Simran Kripalani.

“We did it at the Oreo so we wanted everyone walking to and from class to see and acknowledge that this is something they can’t turn a blind eye to,” Kripalani told The Tab.

Protestors read off a letter titled, “What Steps Should We Take So Black Lives Matter on Our Campus,” addressed to Father Peter and various other university officials. The letter outlined certain demands to make the campus culture more racially inclusionary.

Among the demands were a call to update the racial profiles of students pictured in the Café Nova mural, acknowledge the lack of diversity in the university’s core curriculum and adjust the curriculum to reflect more diversity, release Public Safety oversight committee meeting minutes for public record, and include more diversity in the university’s Board of Directors and the President’s Cabinet.

Photo taken by Kyle Garino and distributed by Nahya Bullock

The letter was written by a single ACT member and approved by the majority of the ACT board. According to Bullock, protestors thought a letter would be the best way to outline demands since, it was could be disseminated broadly to officials and provided a clear record of student demands.

The letter was recited several times throughout the protest.

The demands did not cover all of the issues of racial inequality. “I feel like there are a lot of issues here on campus, but it was a matter of choosing certain issues that could be fixed and worked on. Personally the issue of the core curriculum is huge, as well as the armed public safety issue,” Bullock told The Tab.

Organizers conceptualized the idea of a Black Lives Matter protest during fall break after some ACT members became frustrated with the number of reported and publicized occurrences involving black deaths throughout the country.

Recent media events like Terrance Crutcher shooting therefore increased organizer’s frustration and sparked action. Organizers were also inspired by the passionate response to the canceled Milo Yinnopolous appearance on campus, and therefore felt compelled to organize around a cause of their own.

According to organizers, the protest all began with a Group Me chat. ACT members chatted about the idea via Group Me, and included people who they knew would be interested in participating. As ACT members reached out to friends, faculty, and sympathizers including people in the anti-Milo Yinnopolous group chat. As the Group Me chat grew, the idea took life.

Though the protestors assert that their purpose was not to draw more attention in the wake of the celebrations, some alumni returning to campus for the weekend were shocked and even offended to encounter a protest like this one.

One young alumni, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Tab: “I would think that as a Catholic university that we would feel obligated to live and include all people on our campus.

“This was simply divisive. We are all God’s children. Also, if you don’t like the Villanova culture, you don’t have to attend this school. But at our core, I always thought we were an inclusionary school and I’m shocked that we stood for something so isolating.”

Photo taken by Kyle Garino and distributed by Nahya Bullock

Kripalani and her fellow protestors share a different view. “Personally, I did the protest to support those who are going through inequalities. As a minority myself, it’s my duty to stand in solidarity with other minorities. Racism, both institutional and systematic do exist and I think that we cannot be ignorant of that fact.

“Instead, we have to work towards understanding it. We can’t just preach equality if we cannot literally treat everyone equally,” she told The Tab.

In response to the protest, Father Peter and various university deans have pledged to hold conversations with students to discuss protestor demands.

“I think it is definitely a good start. I also think that eventually we will put together a discussion where students, faculty, staff of Villanova can come together and explain how they felt personally about the protest,” Bullock said.

Though Bullock believes there is more progress to be made, she believes that the university response was significant and encourages students with differing opinions to reach out to her and the ACT board to share their views