MEMORANDUM

Da t e : Ma y 1 , 1 9 9 1
To: Geor ge H. Davi s, Pr esi dent
From: Students Occupying President's Wing
President George Davis we feel we have again reached an impasse after a
hopeful beginning. We welcomed your willingness to resume talks in response
to our letter to do so. In your talk with us before you left for the faculty
senate meeting it was our understanding that we had reached certain
agr eement s
1. We were in agi'eement about the fact that we could only talk to
you as a group without abandoning the occupation -- we have
explained to you repeatedly why we cannot abandon the President's
Wing without invalidating and disempowering ourselves.
2. Similarly we were in agreement with you tliat nothing short of
face to face talks with us is acceptable -- again our reasons for
this were explained to you in our earlier communication which you
c l ai med t o wel c ome.
You promised that when you came back from the faculty senate meeting you
would address in a constructive manner how we could meet in your ofce to
exchange views on how we could resolve this dispute. Understand our
frustration, therefore, when after the faculty senate meeting you reneged on
our agreement by returning to your earlier intransigence when you were
insisting tliat you would not even talk witli us unless we abandon our
o c c u p a t i o n . ^ n
At t hi s poi nt you represent t he st i mi bl i ng bl ock because, i n al l
forthrightness, you strike us as being unreliable, inexible and
inconsistent. We have problems with your inconsistency and unbending
temperament. We cannot see how we can take you in good faith, when each time
you change your mind about what we have agreed upon. We really need
guarantees and assurances from you to rebuild condence in you and allay
suspicion. In accordance, therefore, with the aforementioned, and before we
can proceed any further in tJiis business, we request you to undertake the
f o l l o w i n g :
1. We want you and the Provost, Gerald Francis, to commit
yourselves, in writing, to the principles of negotiation which we
outlined to you, namely, that you will not urge us to negotiate
with you outside the group framework of what we had already
established with you, tliat we will not go back to square one on
each occassi on we resume di scussi ons wi th you.
2. We need written assurance, again, that you will not authorize
any f orce t o be used agai nst us.
3. Finally, that you will use your good ofces to ensure tliat
none of us are victimized by way of expulsion or suspension; that
we shall be given every reasonable opportunity to complete our
outstanding school assignments and take our exams.
Thus, we would like to remind you of the February 1991 report to tlie
Board of Trustees which was issued by the Ofce of Afrmative Action.
"We now st and at a j unct ur e i n t he hi st or y of t he Uni ver si t y of Ver mont .
That juncture, as in most, can lead in many directions. However... [we
are poi nted] i n j ust one di recti on... the di recti on of bri ngi ng i nto
f ul l r eal i z at i on, c ul t ur al di v er s i t y. We hav e bef or e us unl i mi t ed
oppor t uni t i es. The di f cul t i es i n at t ai ni ng our desi r ed goal of
cul tural di versi ty can wi th dedi cati on and vi gi l ance be overcome. One
difculty as mentioned in a recent American Council of Education
meeti ng i s an i nabi l i ty to move from pl anni ng and di scussi on to
i mpl ement at i on. St rengt h t o overcome t hi s di f cul t y l i es i n t l i e
c o mmi t me n t a n d d e d i c a t i o n o f o u r s t u d e n t s , f a c u l t y , s t a f f ,
admi ni st r at i on, and t r ust ees t o f ul l l t hi s vi si on. Ther e ar e many
campuses in which apathy and inertia prevail. The University of Vermont
is not one of them. We must seize the moment and move forward, the
ri ght road i s l ong, and i t i s arduous, but i t i s t he ri ght road.
Everything we desire is possible."