BUZZ
Several student government entities at Stanford University want to see the return of “land acknowledgement” statements before “campus-wide ceremonies.”
The Undergraduate Senate and the Graduate Student Council both signed onto a petition circulated by the campus American Indian Organization demanding a return of the statement.
The university has reportedly dropped the statement, deciding not to use it at convocation in September.
“This decision was disseminated through an unsigned letter sent out to a limited number of administrative personnel, presumably from university leadership,” a Change.org petition from the Stanford American Indian Organization states.
“Prior to the removal of the land acknowledgement, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe—the original peoples of the land—the Stanford Native community, and the undergraduate population were not made aware of this decision or the unsigned letter,” the activist group stated. “This letter declared the land acknowledgment ‘symbolic’ and ‘performative.’”
The undergraduate student government signed the petition last week on Nov. 5, according to The Stanford Daily. The Graduate Student Council followed the next day at its meeting.
“It’s, in my mind ,an obvious reinstatement of something that has happened since before my time here at Stanford,” UGS Chair David Sengthay said.
Students criticized the alleged secrecy surrounding the letter, noting no administrator put their name on it. Recipients of the letter were also reportedly told not to tell students about the change.
The petition has a series of demands, including that officials “[m]eet with Indigenous students, faculty, staff, and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to co-create meaningful practices that strengthen and hold accountable the University’s commitments to Native people” and “[r]elease an accountability statement acknowledging the lack of communication with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Stanford Native community regarding the removal of the University’s land acknowledgement.”
“Land acknowledgements need not be transformative, but are an invitation to engage with important, complex historical issues,” the Change.org petition states. “Stanford’s principles rest on the reimplementation of the land acknowledgment, and we as a community stand with the Muwekma Ohlone People.”
The tribe’s historical land stretches across much of the Bay Area, encompassing multiple university campuses.
The tribe’s website lists land acknowledgement statements for Chabot College, Holy Names University, San Jose State University, and Santa Clara University.
