June 26, 2020 Statement in Support of Black Students and Alumni of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Our Responsibility to Act Now Against Racism at IMSA We, the IMSA Alumni Association (IAA) cabinet, represent the voice of all IMSA alumni, regardless of race/ethnicity, sex or gender, class, sexuality, or ability. As such, it is our responsibility to clearly denounce racism in the world and at IMSA in all its forms: structural, institutional, interpersonal, and even internalized. In light of the recent (but not new) killings of unarmed Black people at the hands of law enforcement, we acknowledge the long history of anti-Black racism in the United States. Extending from the first shipment of enslaved Africans in 1619 to the unequal educational and financial opportunities in Black neighborhoods that persist to the present day, Black Americans still suffer from institutional and systemic racism daily. These tools of oppression are not relegated to courtrooms or lending institutions alone: they persist throughout academia and in STEM fields as well. We, the IAA cabinet, acknowledge that racism, in all its forms, exists at IMSA. As such, we are responsible for fixing a system and culture that is broken, yet upheld by our very own. We stalwartly support Black students and Black alumni. We do not want to simply discuss racism at IMSA and devolve into empty platitudes. We aim to take specific, measurable, assignable, relevant, and time-sensitive (S.M.A.R.T.) action to improve the experiences of Black students at IMSA. We consider this problem urgent. To this end, we have two announcements:
As alumni, we have the power to change IMSA for the better. We welcome you to join us in the fight for racial equality at our high school and help to ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific minds that advance the human condition. Sachin Agarwal, 1998 Richard Bergstrom, 1994 Brian Cudiamat, 1996 Dyanna Gregory, 1997 Matthew Isoda, 2002 Tamora Kimmitt, 1991 Jasmine Kwasa, 2009 Zouyan Lu, 2002 Tim Messer, 2000 Stephen Paige, 2000 |
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