The shackles of oppression, hatred and belittlement have been chained to Black bodies for centuries. Today, we move towards releasing those shackles and diversifying the University. In our memory, we keep our ancestors who were deprived of an education and ultimately knew death was better than the bondage that was imposed on the Black soul.

All crimes and incidents that occur at the University are public records and can be accessed by any citizen. All students have multiple resources provided by the University and the University of Illinois Police Department to help ensure their personal safety.

The University has an efficient alert system called Illini-Alerts that notifies students when a crime happens near their location. When looking for more specific details on a crime, a person can access the police blotter, which contains a daily description of all crimes reported and arrests made. Another useful resource is the Campus Safety Map, where the exact location of a crime is pinpointed.

This system would be more effective if it targets and reports crimes in all areas where students are present, not just within the bounds of Campustown.

There are specific communities that are off-campus that need Illini-Alerts more because crime is more prevalent. These communities are being faced with life-or-death situations, not just petty theft crimes.

African Americans only make up 6% of the overall student population at the University of Illinois. This averages to around 2,800 Black students on campus and approximately half of these students permanently reside in Cook County.

Cook County has record-breaking high rates of gun violence, as there were 1,040 gun-related incidents in 2021 alone. People who are victims or have experienced acts of gun violence are more vulnerable to encountering the act again or perpetrating interpersonal violence themselves.

Many students come from these areas of violence and have experienced traumatic incidents in their everyday lives normalizing terror and agony. When the University accepts students into its institution, it also is accepting all student cultures and upbringings. The University has taken upon a mission to protect these students and provide them with an environment that is void of the paranoia of a bullet flying through their windows.

African American students coming from these environments expect to walk into a utopia, leaving all horrors of their past behind them. Instead, students of color are questioning their place on campus and how important their safety is to the University.

“As we grieve and mourn as a student body, we must be there for each other, to love and support each other,” said the Black Students for Revolution in a statement released by mail. “But most of all, we must be there to protect one another. Because, as we have seen, the University still does not care enough to even release a statement concerning the violence.”

The University has been taking extraordinary measures to hide the violence around C-U, and even more, the violence within student living facilities that house many low-income students.

Location has become one of the many loopholes for University officials to pick what crimes should be reported. Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day was full of festivities and good times, although in the midst of this crammed weekend, two acts of gun violence affected two off-campus living facilities.

The UIPD was aware of these two crimes, as you can find these incidents on the Campus Safety Map. However, no follow up information was found. These incidents were in the UIPD’s jurisdiction, therefore they should have been on the police blotter, and Illini-Alerts and Massmails should have been released.

Instead, it’s like these incidents never even happened, which is immediately alarming.

If we plan on admitting more African American students, we need to assure their safety by redesigning the corrupt system that takes over Black lives.

The University and the UIPD going to tremendous efforts to hide the trauma that students of color endure is distasteful and adds to the wounds of the Black soul that already weeps from such pain.

Diamond is a junior in LAS.

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