Background

Kent State recognizes that all forms of racism are connected, and that anti-Blackness is the entrance point to examine the ways in which systems of oppression are enacted. The 2020 tragic murders of George Floyd, along with Breonna Taylor and Ahmad Arbery reflect not a recent turn of events, but rather a continuation of a long history of discrimination and violence against Black Americans, people of color and other ethnic and religious groups in our country. The experiences of many Americans who suffer from this legacy of violence, including Kent State University students, staff and faculty require that as an institution, Kent State responds in ways that acknowledge we are a microcosm of society.