Dear President Cauce,
May 1, 2017 will be a nationwide day of action and resistance, during which immigrant and undocumented rights, labor, environmental, and LGBTQ groups will join together in mass collective actions to unite against the agenda of the Trump administration. University of Washington workers and students are joining the call for resistance across the country, and against threats to our ability to work and study at UW, including:
> The Trump Executive Orders banning travel by international students and scholars from Muslim-majority countries
> Threats to end or limit the OPT and other programs and visas (such H1B) for guest workers
> Overt and covert racial and gendered violence, and all other manifestations of systemic oppression that target and threaten many marginalized communities, including immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ people, Jews, Muslims, and anyone else susceptible to discriminatory policies
> Cuts to funding of science, arts, humanities (NIH, DOE, EPA, NOAA, NSF, NEA, NEH)
> Denial of climate change and defunding of climate agencies
> Threats to health coverage for all
> Threats to reproductive justice, including breastfeeding, access to prenatal care, the ability to make choices about one’s reproductive health, etc.
We, the undersigned, endorse this call for May 1, 2017 nationwide day of resistance, and pledge to take action: strikes, walkouts, teach-ins, and whatever manner of participation is possible, and call on you to join us in declaring a moratorium on business as usual. In light of the many demands made by marginalized communities to the University Administration in recent months, your response will be evident in concrete actions that illustrate your commitment to equity.