Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of the police has shaken the nation to its core, and we are writing this petition on account of our alma mater's silence. We are writing because we know this silence has gone on far too long, and because we are using our voices to demand action, and change. Racism and brutality will continue in America as long as these violent systems of oppression are not acknowledged, taught, and intentionally dismantled. And so change must start with education.

SLC was founded on the principles of the Catholic faith. The Catholic Church teaches its followers to love thy neighbor, and Pope Francis has called Catholics to speak out against injustice. And as alumni, we are asking St. Louis to break their deafening silence and do just that. St. Louis Catholic has been silent on the subject of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade (and all those who passed before and after them). We do not want to live in a world where Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is more vocal about injustice than our alma mater. We do not know what to make of the fact that SLC refuses to state plainly that Black Lives Matter—a statement so benign and so obviously true that its omission from your social media platforms speaks volumes. First and foremost, we are asking every one of you to break your silence and take a stand for what is morally correct in accordance with your Catholic faith.

We are grateful for the education we received, the lessons we have learned, and the friendships we gained during our time at St. Louis. However, we also believe our alma mater can and should be better. Many of us experienced racism and discrimination throughout our years at this school, and many of us watched our classmates suffer. And we are here to call for change. As Sirad Hassan and Dayna Valek wrote in their own recent petition, we must “reexamine how we honor Black lives in our education system [...] not simply as a reactionary means, but in direct ways that critically challenge how we frame our nation’s history.” Following their lead, we are calling on you to implement changes in order to directly address issues of inequality in order to better serve your student body. 

We believe that as Christian educators, the teachers at St. Louis have a moral and professional responsibility to facilitate in-class conversations about race, privilege, allyship, and justice at every grade level. We must put a stop to the practice of teaching students to be colorblind and acknowledge that racism is not a thing of the past, nor the sole domain of hateful individuals—racism must be understood as a system that is reinforced by institutions and is reinforced through systems of discrimination, as well as implicit and explicit biases.

We want our children to receive an education that prepares them for and informs them of the real world. A lot of these issues we are met with will only be solved through deep, hard thinking in combination with structural change. Having a good heart and good values is crucial, but not a solution. We will need a good heart, good values--but also: history and philosophy and theory. Solving these systemic racial issues requires people of faith, government, the private sector, educational institutions, and individuals. Only one piece of this partnership will not suffice in tackling racial injustice. 

We want our children to have a better educational experience than we did and we want to be part of the solution. And that is why we are demanding change.

We believe that the curriculum at St. Louis does not adequately or effectively teach students about systemic racism or white supremacy. While at SLC, we were taught about the Civil Rights Movement and assigned To Kill a Mockingbird. However, we did not receive formal education about modern-day systemic and institutionalized racism, police brutality, or systems of privilege. 

TO THE SLC ADMINISTRATION & THE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DIOCESE OF LAKE CHARLES:

In light of our numerous firsthand experiences with racism and discrimination at our school and in light of our insufficient education on history and race, we are presenting you with the following demands:

1. Release a public statement condemning the wrongful murder of George Floyd and all victims of police brutality. If LSU Athletics can put out a statement saying Black Lives Matter, why won’t you?

2. Commit to effectively condemning EVERY racist act that happens in the classroom and on school property. White supremacy and racism, whether overt or covert, should not be tolerated at any level. 

3. Revise the school’s statement of philosophy—and the student handbook—to include principles of diversity, anti-racism, and equality.

4. Add articles, books, documentaries, and podcasts by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color) authors centered on anti-racism and racial justice to the curricula of all social science and English classes at every grade level, in summer reading lists and academic year syllabi. These texts should be used to facilitate in-class conversations and lessons about race, privilege, allyship, and justice—and not just during Black history month.
   
   These conversations should focus on topics including but not limited to: the complex nature of the Atlantic Slave Trade, redlining, Jim Crow, the Tulsa Race Massacre, literacy and doll tests, Black land theft, gentrification, the wealth gap, racism in the U.S. healthcare system, mass incarceration of Black people, implicit racial biases in education, and the barring of Black students from US higher educational institutions in the twentieth, nineteenth, and earlier centuries. During and after instruction, it should be clear to students that these issues are ongoing and that they did not simply end with the passing of the 13th Amendment or integration.
    
   We have sent the school board a list of suggested texts which we will also post on the Resources page as a starting point. After careful study of the critical literature, students and educators should leave the classroom understanding that systemic racism exists and is an ongoing struggle.

5. Eliminate discriminatory and racist hair guidelines from the Student Handbook (which currently forbids male students to wear Afros “over three inches” and “braids, twists, or other exaggerated styles” associated with Black hairstyles. Braids are not a distraction and do not prevent student learning. 

6. Offer wellness (i.e. mental health) resources for students of color addressing anti-racism—both digital and in-person through experienced guidance counselors.

7. Require all current and future teachers to receive in-depth cultural sensitivity training (such as Continuing Education Credits on Equity and Inclusion) annually that directly addresses the challenges faced by BIPOC students and guides towards solutions at the community level. 

8. Undertake a third-party, holistic review of the SLC curriculum, admissions, hiring process, and student body administration to search for areas of potential improvement in the fields of equity, inclusion, and diversity. For example, Fr. Joshua Johnson or Gloria Purvis offer Catholic-based versions of such services. 

9. Create an online form for students to report incidents of discrimination—at the hands of either students or faculty or parents—anonymously, ensuring that students will not be retaliated against for making a report. There should be a thorough, transparent review process for responding to and addressing these complaints. 

10. Remove police school resource officers from school grounds and events.

11. Announce a commitment to holding assemblies at least twice a school year that feature guest speakers of color who will address issues of racism and bias.

12. Create and release a 5-year plan detailing what steps you will take to ensure that the racial makeup of SLC students—and faculty members and the board of directors—more closely reflects the racial makeup of Lake Charles by 2025 (47% White, 47% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.47% from other races, 2.1% from two or more races). Currently, St. Louis is 81.9%* white—and this is not acceptable. A school cannot be committed to diversity and inclusion if its faculty is overwhelmingly white, and BIPOC students cannot feel at home in a school where they do not see themselves represented in its leaders.  

13. Give students free speech protections. Although private schools are not required by law to provide first amendment protections to students, it is our belief that the only way to teach students to fight for social justice and change is to allow them to express their political beliefs and encourage them to fight for what is right. 
    
    During her time at St. Louis, Kristen Broussard (class of 2009) and her classmates were penalized by peacefully protesting while at school. Kristen and her friends were wearing black undershirts to peacefully protest the treatment of the Jena 6 and were threatened with punishments--despite the fact that their actions were in no way disruptive to student learning and bravely drew attention to injustice. This was not an isolated issue but one of many such experiences sanctioned by school policy. 
    
    We are therefore asking SLC to implement a formal policy granting students their first amendment rights while at school, because we do not believe students ought to be punished for expressing their beliefs or standing up for what is right.

14. Create more opportunities for low-income students to attend St. Louis. The scholarship opportunities offered are insufficient. And we believe that students from all socioeconomic backgrounds should have access to this school and to Catholic education. The median income in Lake Charles is $40,910 and the SLC subsidized tuition rate is currently at $6,900. Even the subsidized tuition is unaffordable for most Lake Charles families—and we believe this needs to change. And right now, many of the scholarship applications can only be accessed by making phone calls or sending multiple emails. Our demand is threefold:

    1. Create more transparency regarding all tuition and scholarship information by ensuring it is all readily available on the school website. Include numbers of scholarship applicants. 

    2. Eliminate processing fees from financial aid application forms, as well as the Pastor signature requirement for subsidized tuition rates. 

    3. Revisit and lower the subsidized tuition rates, which are still unaffordable for many local families .

SLC students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, and concerned Catholics everywhere:
To state it directly, Black people are suffering—at the hands of police, at the hands of the medical and prison industry, and at the hands of people who embrace ignorance on the subject of racial injustice. For this suffering to end, the realization must take place that we don’t have the time for inefficient methods, for ideas of personal utopias that tolerate or overlook the violence still happening in this country. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others do not have this time anymore. Many of us are unaware of how much time we have till structural racism ends us. Therefore, now is the time for clarity of creed, the lines of thought that led us there, and specific actions to end Black suffering and structural racism. It is time for SLC to stand with us.

If you support this proposal and share our demands, please sign your name. We accept signatures from all former students and affiliates of St. Louis, as well as any concerned community members or concerned Catholics anywhere. You have the option to only include your first name (or no name at all) should you feel more comfortable doing so. However, please include your affiliation with SLC and class year, if applicable, so we can know which signers are former students and staff. 

MLK said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." We are challenging you to do the right thing. Where do you stand?

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us. We await your response.

Written by:

Kristen Broussard (‘09) & Elizabeth Clausen (‘09) & Danny Garrett (‘07) 

With the help and research of Nick Duffel (‘09) & Natalie Ieyoub (‘09) & Nick LeDay (‘09) Sally McPherson (‘10) & Lucy San Miguel (‘10) & Aliesha Schultz (‘09) & others. 

In memory of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade. Rest in power. 

*Demographic information via SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Louisiana Dept of Education.