SLU Prez Message

To the Saint Louis University Community:

Word of the grand jury’s decision in the Ferguson case is upon us.

This decision comes 70 years after Saint Louis University took a bold and courageous stand and became the first historically white university in a former slave state to adopt a formal policy to admit African-American students. (Read the groundbreaking homily on race delivered by SLU’s Claude Heithaus, S.J., on Feb. 11, 1944.) That was an anxious time when it came to matters of race. The decision arrives almost exactly 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on the SLU campus.  That too was an uneasy time in race relations.

And this is an anxious moment in St. Louis history.  News of the decision likely will spur protests throughout the region.

No doubt the region-wide protests will be tense. Protests often are. But demonstration organizers have said they will actively manage them to deter troublemakers, prevent violence, and keep the peace.

And that is what we intend to do here at SLU. Keep the peace.

We expect many SLU students will attend to their studies, as if it were any other day. Classes will continue. Other SLU students may brave the cold to march peaceably at one or more of the demonstration sites in the area. Still other SLU students will choose to stay closer to home and raise their voices and banners — for or against the grand jury decision — here on our campus.  Whether they choose to continue to study or to demonstrate on campus or off campus, SLU students are urged to be alert and aware.

Tomorrow here at SLU a prayer service will be held by the Peace Pole, located across from the Center for Global Citizenship.

Many faculty, students and staff, including me, will turn to prayer. Mass is celebrated every day on campus. To learn more about SLU’s daily Masses and resources for prayer, visit the Department of Campus Ministry website. To learn more about counseling services that are available to students, visit the University Counseling Center website.

The University administration and our public safety officers will be actively monitoring events throughout the region as they unfold. The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and patients has been and remains a primary concern. If their security is likely to come under threat, we will act. And the community will be alerted by our emergency response system. Many more details can be found here.

We’re counting on SLU student protesters and our Shaw and Midtown neighbors to act with respect and dignity. And we expect protesters will employ what Dr. King termed the most powerful weapon of all, non-violence.

Once these historic demonstrations have ceased, complacency about racial inequities in the St. Louis region must end, and the time for action and healing must begin.

SLU will continue to do its part here on campus and in disadvantaged neighborhoods in St. Louis, as called for in the Clock Tower accords and my inaugural address.

We will need your help.

In the meantime, I ask that you to join me in praying for peace and calm for everyone who calls this great region home.

Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.
President