DOWN WITH WILLY
Monday, June 22 2020
We are calling on the Rice administration to remove the likeness of William Marsh Rice from Rice's marketing/PR materials and from the academic quad.
Join us by doing ALL of the following action items:
LEAVE A COMMENT FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT! The petition details the demands by current Black Rice students and Black Rice alumni.
PERSONALIZE YOUR EMAIL FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT! This link autopopulates an email to President Leebron, Vice President Kevin Kirby, Head of PR Doug Miller and Head of Marketing Christine Church. Feel free to send to other administrators as well!
Call their offices as well:
1. David Leebron ([email protected], 713-348-5050)
2. Kevin Kirby ([email protected], 713-348-6040)
3. Doug Miller ([email protected], 713-348-6770)
4. Christine Church ([email protected], 713-348-4616)
Full email text:
Hi all,
My name is [NAME and AFFILIATION].
Today, I am calling on the Rice administration to 1) remove the likeness of William Marsh Rice from its marketing and public relations material and 2) remove the statue of Rice from the academic quad.
As you know, Rice was an enslaver who owned 15 slaves as property. The wealth he generated on his cotton farm went to founding Rice. The first Black student was unable to attend Rice until 1964. Even then, Rice had a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan on campus and many reported incidents of blackface. Leaving up Rice's likeness as a benevolent figure overlooking campus is a slap in the face to the Black students of Rice.
While the removal of Willy's statue may be difficult, an immediate actionable item is for Rice to commit to removing Willy from all of its marketing materials and to publicly acknowledge Willy's history as an enslaver. As administrators in positions of power, you are uniquely able to push for such change. I also request that the administration releases a plan for the eventual removal of Willy.
[PERSONALIZATION HERE - you can link Black Rice students demands or other concerns here]
Best,
[NAME]
SEND DIRECTLY TO FRIENDS FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT! This link autopopulates a tweet that @s relevant Twitter accounts. The distributed flyer is also attached below for sharing to Instagram.
