10th Anniversary of OccupySLU: Looking Back and Moving Forward

10/04/2024

Dear members of the Saint Louis University community,

October has been a significant month for our community since the first year of my presidency.

Though the time may feel very near to those of us who experienced it, many of you may not be familiar with the events that took place on our campus 10 years ago, in October 2014.

That summer and fall, our region responded to the killings of Michael Brown and Vonderrit Myers Jr., the son of one of our own Saint Louis University employees, with expressions of pain and calls for justice. 

On October 12, 2014, more than 1,500 people (including students, staff, and faculty) marched from the Shaw neighborhood onto SLU’s campus. A small group remained and established an encampment at the Clock Tower. 

The University was under enormous pressure to forcibly remove protesters. But University leaders chose instead to embrace the values at the heart of our Jesuit mission. We met peace with peace – which is not to say that we avoided disagreement, discomfort, and dissent.

Administrators, students, and community activists engaged in daily conversations at the Clock Tower and in the President’s Office, seeking to deepen understanding of our differences and identify common ground. Students, staff, and faculty organized a large teach-in that week and small group dialogues in the days that followed. Throughout these and other interactions, we committed to listening, even when it was difficult. 

Our approach to living our values and constructive dialogue was very different from the path many other colleges and universities took. One outcome of our engagement was the University’s commitment to inclusion and social justice embodied in what came to be known as the Clock Tower Accords, the signing of which brought OccupySLU to a peaceful conclusion after six days. 

Those memorable six days in October 2014 have come to signify many things. Their impact extends beyond the accords and into the work of each person who was changed by the transformative encounters that took place on our campus. Each person who tells the story, and each listener, may find a meaning that speaks to them. 

This October, I hope that the SLU community will remember and emphasize this: In the face of fear, discord, and the efforts of those who sought to foment division and hatred, we chose to treat one another with dignity and respect. We chose to let our values guide us and listen to one another.

Our commitment to listening and compassion is more crucial now than ever. We continue to focus on enduring injustices and engage in critical dialogue surrounding pressing global issues. Together, we mourn the lives tragically lost in Israel, Gaza, and elsewhere in the world. We are here to support all members of our community who continue to live with the open wounds of ongoing conflicts. 

Global conflicts and the forces of partisanship and disunity seem stronger now than they were even 10 years ago. Shared understanding seems distant; shared purpose, at times, impossible.

We can find hope in remembering that the SLU community has written a new script before. I  have faith that we can continue to pull together, seek deeper understanding, and identify the actions and initiatives needed to create a more just, equitable and inclusive campus and community. This begins with compassionate listening in search of common ground.

This year’s events to commemorate the 10th anniversary of OccupySLU will invite our community to reflect on the meaning that past events hold today and to envision what the future should hold for our University. 

Event organizers have planned a number of conversations that ask: What does it mean to seek justice in the Ignatian tradition? How do we create a community in which every person can thrive? How can we gather together – as people with different identities, backgrounds, perspectives, and beliefs – and work toward a future in which all people live with dignity? 

I look forward to continuing these conversations with you, this month and throughout the year.
Sincerely,

Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.
President