It is our strength that is decisive

Back in September, ARA posted our thoughts on President Reid's decision to resign as president of Wayne State University. We opposed him both for his domestic policies - gutting and destroying Wayne State's urban mission, disenfranchising working people in Detroit, and attacking black folks in general – as well as for his decisions on an international scale, specifically twice rejecting demands by students at Wayne State to divest from apartheid Israel.

What we would like in a new president of the university is someone committed to anti-racism and fighting imperialism. Whoever it is should not be afraid to proudly declare their support for such positions. Doing so would place them in the company of people like Malcolm X, Robert F. Williams, Stokely Carmichael, Selma James, Rosa Luxemburg, and many others.

However, let us be clear from the outset: a president who refuses to uphold these basic principles will reap the whirlwind of public sentiment. The Wayne State University community has a long and proud history of opposing racists, apologists of imperialism, and all others who would deny our right to self-determination along these lines. We in the Wayne State community are not unreasonable people. We are willing to give any new president time to prove which side of the barricades they prefer. But we refuse to remain idle forever. Our demands are the following:

• Immediately freeze all tuition hikes and fees for studying, including library fees, lab fees, and fees to use workout facilities.
• Re-commit the university to upholding its once-proud urban mission.
• Reinstate the College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs at Wayne State University.
• Reinstate the Interdisciplinary Studies Program and the College of Lifelong Learning.
• Reinstate open enrollment for all people with a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• Institute apprenticeship programs that provide job-training to lower-income and unemployed folks.
• Commit the university to intervene on behalf of movements against imperialism throughout the world, beginning with divestment from apartheid Israel.

We will give any new president a full semester to institute these demands. If our demands are refused, we will ruthlessly organize our power to ensure that the new president's tenure is as brief as possible. Our organization will reflect our strength, and our strength will be decisive.