For the past five days, nine Duke students have occupied administrative offices on Duke’s campus to protest the systemic racism within the university and demand seven provisions, namely the resignation of three top administrators and expansion of workers’ rights.
These events were set into motion Feb. 29 when Duke’s student newspaper, The Chronicle, released an investigative piece revealing that in August 2014, Tallman Trask, the executive vice president of Duke University, hit Shelvia Underwood, a parking attendant, with his car. Underwood also says that Trask called her “dumb, dumb stupid n—–” as he drove away.
The next day, The Chronicle followed up with an article exploring what former employees from Parking and Transportation Services called a “hostile” environment and “a culture of racism, harassment, retaliation and bullying.” Renne Adkins, former special events manager for PTS, told The Chronicle that there were “innumerable incidents” in which she and PTS staff were called various racial slurs, which administrators “swept under the rug.”
Student activists began to meet with campus staff members forming a group called Duke Students & Workers in Solidarity, according to Danielle Purifoy, a doctoral candidate studying environmental politics and African-American studies, and a media liaison for DSWS.
“From there, we escalated,” Purifoy said. “We started with an op-ed and a day of call-ins and letter-writing campaigns, and the nine students decided that they were going to go ahead and occupy.”
On Friday, the activists took a “historically significant” turn as nine Duke students began an ongoing occupation of the upper floors of Duke’s Allen Building until the university meets their demands, according to Zack Fowler, a Duke senior and supporter of DSWS.
A group of over 60 students have gathered in a tent city called “Abele-ville” — named after the black architect of Duke’s campus — on the quad in front of the building to support the occupiers by holding demonstrations. According to Fowler, about 15–20 faculty members have also expressed their support and many have held teach-ins in the camp.
Purifoy explained the escalation of student protesters as a response to the administration’s silence on the matter.
“We believe it was a misstep on their part to not respond,” Purifoy said. “The action escalated to force a response. These are broader institutional issues. PTS is not the only department that has had a history of hostility and racism and discrimination, but it’s an example of the broader institutional issue, so we really wanted to bring that to the attention of folks.”
According to Purifoy, there is a disconnect between some students and the occupiers. The university has closed off the Allen Building, causing classes to be canceled or moved. However, Purifoy said, “We maintain that it’s completely unnecessary to cancel classes in the Allen Building given that the occupation is only in the upper part of the building,” Purifoy said. “[The university could] just have security in the upper part of that space, which was closed off from the rest of the building anyway.”
In addition to closing off the entire building, the university administration threatened protesters with arrest, expulsion, suspension and other forms of discipline, according to Stanley Yuan, a senior and member of DSWS. Despite threats, the nine students occupying the Allen Building have remained inside. The initial negotiations were fruitful and resulted in unconditional amnesty from disciplinary action for the protesters on Sunday night and a public apology from Trask on Monday afternoon.
However, on Monday evening, the administration announced that it would cease negotiations until the protesters vacated the building. Sue Wasiolek, dean of students at Duke University, said, “We had started the negotiations late yesterday morning and had made some progress, but, in light of the speed at which things were progressing and given the clear complexity of the issues that we were addressing, we found that this whole process was going to take a very, very long time.”
Regarding the protesters’ demands, Wasiolek said, “They are very nuanced and complex. They’re going to take a great deal of time to fully flesh out, to fully understand and fully determine what can and cannot be done.”
Wasiolek said that she and other administrators felt that the only way negotiations could take place would be for the students to vacate the building and find common ground to “develop a forward-looking plan.”
However, the protesters are committed.
Fowler called the university’s decision a “smoke-out tactic,” insisting that “no one’s moving.”
Purifoy said that she thinks that “it’s an attempt to have a killing effect on this movement, and I think it’s really clear, and the occupiers have been clear that it’s not over. Whatever comes next, this is not over. We’re not just walking away. I can’t tell you what comes next, I don’t know, but we can say this matter will not die until the demands are met.”
Some of the occupiers of the Duke Allen Building step out onto the balcony to speak with other protesters below. Over 60 protesters have gathered in a tent city called "Abele-ville" outside of the building to support the occupiers.
