President Gabel,

The University Of Minnesota student union is the center for student life on our campus, and is described by the University as “the hub for campus life”. It houses multicultural student centers, and is a space for students to feel safe and welcome at this University. This student union space is named after the University’s fifth president, Lotus Coffman. Under Coffman’s leadership as president from 1920 to 1938, during the rise of Nazism, the University would frequently surveil students for any signs of “radicalism” or left-leaning political beliefs. Coffman was concerned with the number of Jewish students on campus, and would closely monitor and follow Black and Jewish student activists who he suspected to be Communists. If that’s not enough, he actively promoted racial segregation. Black students were promptly rejected from University dorms. Under Coffman’s leadership, Black students at the University’s nursing school weren’t allowed to treat white patients. He was quoted in 1931 saying, “the races have never lived together, nor have they ever sought to live together”. 

This is Coffman’s legacy. 

After a 16 month long study ended in 2019, a University task force researching these histories suggested that the University administration remove names like Coffman’s from campus buildings. Thousands of UMN students signed on. Our University president at the time supported this effort. But when it went to the board of regents to vote, they dismissed the findings of the task force, and ignored student voices. They voted to keep the names. Many regents opposing the removal of the building names were concerned with the legacies of men like Coffman being tarnished.

This is the legacy the University of Minnesota is upholding.

Over the fall semester, Minnesota Youth Collective partnered with SW 1501: Introduction to Peace Studies, where students organized around four campus accountability campaigns centering peace and social justice action on our campus. Our particular effort focused on creating and distributing a student survey, collecting reactions to these ongoing histories within our campus community. These are some of our findings:

• 97% of students surveyed believe our student union should not be named after Coffman.
• When asked if they felt the board of regents’ decision represented student interests, 96% of students said no.
• 92% of students responded that Coffman’s name and legacy did not represent a safe and welcoming campus.

We also asked students to reflect on the legacy of Coffman and our University’s action (or lack thereof):

• “This is disgusting and horrific.” 
• “I’m angry and hurt the University has chosen to keep his name on the student union.”
• “How on earth would we keep such a name for such a vital hub of our school life?”
• “[Coffman’s] legacy is white supremacy. We see it in his name, in these old buildings, in the refusal to move away from the roots we have come from.”
• “Listen to your students. Without them, you wouldn’t have the position you do. Don’t you want to make this university a better institution? Shouldn’t you strive to make students feel more supported and foster a greater community?”

What we found in our survey is reflective of the large support this effort has had from students in the past several years. Action on behalf of the University administration is long overdue. President Kaler and the task force committee members recognized the harm of several building names on campus. The board of regents were dismissive of these findings and of widespread student support. 

This is why we need your advocacy and support.

The time was right to fight for this change years ago, but this change is even more urgently needed now. In the past year, Minneapolis has been at the epicenter of a widespread call for active and intentional anti-racism. We are a part of a broader community that can see the harm perpetuated by upholding racist building names. After the murder of George Floyd, you wrote to students; “our campuses and facilities are a part of the communities in which they reside. University students, staff, and faculty are day-to-day participants in the life of every community in this state, and we must act when our neighbors are harmed and in pain.” Refusal to listen to students and specifically students of color is perpetuating the harm created by former president Coffman. If the University leadership is actually committed to creating an environment that welcomes and prioritizes diversity and inclusion, you all must act against this. Otherwise, you and your administration are complicit.

It is long overdue to change our student union’s name. We ask you take swift action, representing student interests and fostering a welcoming, anti-racist campus community.

Sincerely,

University of Minnesota Students, partnered with the Minnesota Youth Collective & SW 1501