EMU Today

To students, faculty and staff:

Eastern Michigan University President James Smith today announced that the reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or people involved in the two racist incidents that occurred last week has been doubled to $5,000. 

The additional $2,500 in reward funds were provided by a University donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

In addition, the EMU Department of Public Safety is being assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and state of Michigan resources as it continues to investigate the case, conduct interviews and actively follow up on leads.

The University's priority at this time is to find the people or persons involved and bring them to justice. At the same time, the University is working closely with students, student leaders, faculty members and academic and student affairs personnel to develop programming that is responsive the broader issues of hate, racism and inclusion that are behind these incidents. 

Anyone with information related to the cases can contact EMU Police at 734-487-1222 or the EMU Police Tip Line at 734-487-4847

Black Student Union to host town hall event with President Smith Monday, October 3

The Black Student Union (BSU) is convening a town hall event Monday, October 3, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. It will take place in the Student Center Ballroom. BSU is planning this event as an opportunity for students to openly voice their concerns about the University, learn more about campus resources available to them, and brainstorm an action plan to address the climate on campus. BSU invites students, faculty, staff, and administrators to attend to ask questions or express concerns that students may have as it pertains to the recent events on campus. Light refreshments will be served.

This is the first of several forums being planned to address the recent incidents on campus that were targeted at the black community, as well as the broader issues of race and inclusion on Eastern's campus. Notifications of additional forums and/or meetings will be shared with Eastern community as they are scheduled.

Other actions taken

Other actions taken since the incidents occurred include:

• An Anonymous Electronic Feedback Form for members of the campus community to submit their questions, concerns, and requests for institutional action
• Expanded police patrols to further protect students.
• CAPS offering additional appointments.
• CAPS partnering with Diversity and Community Involvement (DCI) to offer a series of drop-in groups.
• Faculty members are actively providing academic programming ideas and suggestions in order to ensure ongoing efforts to address the issues of racism and inclusion.

Ongoing updates about the investigations and resources available to Eastern Michigan students can be found on the University’s information site.