Why Didn’t Elon President Connie Book Simply and Clearly State ‘Black Lives Matter’?
As national movements surge across the United States in protest of racial injustice, Elon University’s President Connie Book took the opportunity to show her solidarity. On May 31, President Book sent an email to students, faculty, staff, and alum expressing her sympathies with and commitments to the cause. She called the community to reach out to Black friends and colleagues, and to read Elon’s fall book selection, Jennifer Eberhardt’s Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. But while Book did acknowledge that “the majority of the Elon community is White,” many students were left feeling underwhelmed by her statement and skeptical of its authenticity.
Several people took to the “Elon Students and Alumni Against Racism” Facebook page to express their disappointment with President Book’s statement—namely, the fact that she omitted the phrase “Black lives matter.” Many members of the group recommended that students and alums reach out to President Book with concerns about her statement. And rising senior Riley Bradford took a moment to reflect on why President Book might have failed to mention Black Lives Matter.
Bradford created a graphic, which he posted on Twitter, hypothesizing about some of the reasons why President Book neglected to explicitly state “Black Lives Matter.” Bradford’s graphic highlights that two major Elon donors, Dwight Schar and Louis Dejoy, have both donated thousands of dollars to GOP groups. “I love my school but loving someone is sometimes about holding them accountable,” Bradford wrote in the post accompanying the graphic. He then tagged President Book and asked her to “show us that Black Lives Matter.” The post received hundreds of retweets and favorites on Twitter and was shared across multiple social media platforms.
However, when several alumni stated they would halt donations to Elon as a result of the information shared on the graphics, Bradford stepped in to clarify his purpose. “The posts have always been intended to call out but more importantly in,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “They don’t and should not be used to call for alumni to stop donating to Elon.” Bradford added that halting donations would likely hurt a lot of students who need financial support, especially in the current recession. Bradford then suggested that alumni request that their donation be sent to programs that specifically benefit people of color at Elon.
It seems these impassioned efforts had a great impact on the school, as President Book released another statement during the time it took me to research and write this piece. On June 5, President Book sent an email thanking members of the Elon community for their advocacy on behalf of Black students, professors, colleagues, and peers. “I am committed and accountable to ensuring Elon continues to enhance support for our black community and stand with them in the fight against racism and injustice,” President Book wrote. “All Black members of our community have lives that not only matter, but are vital to our community.” She then included information about Authentic Dialogue Toward Real Change, a virtual series Elon is planning discussing racism and injustice. More information about the series can be found here.
The Edge condemns racial injustice. We invite you to submit opinion pieces, stories, educational resources you have tried and other pieces of information you think can help continue the much needed discussion for change and equality, to elonedge@gmail.com. We hope to create a space for collaboration and education and encourage you to help us do so.