Update as of Spring 2023: 

Welcome back!

Our general meetings take place every Friday at 4:00pm over Zoom. 

To keep up to date with CASARI, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media. 

Our Purpose

The CAS Anti-Racist Initiative (CASARI) is a coalition of BU undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff who are working towards creating a more inclusive environment within the College of Arts and Sciences. We will actively challenge and strive to eliminate racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, ableism, classism, and any other form of discrimination in the classroom, in the curriculum, and in CAS policy. We wish to forefront the voices and perspectives of BIPOC, queer, disabled, immigrant, and low-SES students in our efforts to combat the marginalization, exploitation, and systemic oppression of these groups. 

On White Supremacy
Diversity and inclusion efforts are incomplete and often become performative when they do not actively and vocally center the  dismantling and abolition of white supremacy. The heart of our work at CASARI is ending white supremacy in all its manifestations within CAS and the wider BU community.

Our Demands

A longer explanation for each demand is available.

We demand that the College of Arts and Sciences administration take action with us towards this goal of an antiracist learning environment and culture within our school. To strive for this, we as CASARI demand the following:

1. Appoint an Anti-Racist Action Team within CAS that includes a Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, a Diversity Coordinator, and student representation to work across CAS and within individual departments and programs to provide support and accountability for anti-racist policies and practices.

2. Promote and reward current BIPOC faculty for the additional responsibilities put upon them in the name of diversity. Provide incentives and accountability for tenured faculty to incorporate culturally appropriate pedagogy and discussion of BIPOC and antiracist practice into their classes. Incorporate questions regarding diversity and inclusion into end of semester course evaluations.

3. Implement anti-racist policies that will create conditions necessary to hiring and retaining underrepresented BIPOC faculty (with special focus on Black and Indigenous professors) with clearly outlined steps for progressive improvement in both hiring and retention. 

4. Develop and require major-specific courses on the research and contributions of BIPOC individuals, and expand canon in existing courses to be inclusive of multicultural literature and perspectives. 

5. When teaching the history of each discipline, involve acknowledgement and critique of colonialist and racially-charged backgrounds in STEM and Humanities.  Familiarize students with the systematically racist policies that have shaped and continue to shape the history of their departments, so that emerging BU CAS graduates have the opportunity to understand methodological bias and amend these systems. 

6. Increase and focus funding for the pre-existing resources available through SHS in service of student mental health. Place emphasis on hiring BIPOC therapists and training all staff to work with BIPOC students.

7. Partner with departments (including major-specific student groups) to bring career development events/professional opportunities specifically to students of color.

8. Increase availability and variety of scholarships for BIPOC students, especially specific to CAS.

9. Develop and commit to mechanisms and metrics for increasing the BIPOC population with each incoming class.  Expand recruitment, outreach, and retention programs in order to eventually reach a student population that gives tangible proof of BU’s commitment to an antiracist campus. 

10. Ensure CAS's commitment to providing "Learn from Anywhere" technological support for students and recognizing the socioeconomic difficulties in whichever choice a student makes. Install a financial "safety blanket" for students who require aid in the new class model and monitor racial impact of policies.

11. Guarantee that all students with BU-affiliated employment (including internships) are financially compensated at at least the rate of MA’s minimum wage – $12.75 an hour. 

12. Establish a Department of Ethnic Studies modeled on the UC Berkeley department of the same name. Create an academic and professional space on campus that specifically serves marginalized members of the BU community and centers their experiences both historically and in the present.