Black Ministers Call for Resignation of Kean University President

A coalition of black ministers today called for the immediate resignation of Kean University President Dawood Farahi.

“The deplorable death threat against black students on the campus of Kean University did not happen in a vacuum, but arose from a climate of racial intolerance that has been allowed to fester for years under this president’s watch,” said the Rev. Ronald Slaughter, the senior pastor of Saint James AME Church in Newark.

Violent threats were made on social media against black students at the school during a peaceful rally on the campus Tuesday night, Kean University’s Police said.

The rally was designed to raise awareness of racial unrest on college campuses across the country. While the event was ongoing, anonymous tweets were made against the school’s black community and “the campus at large,” the school’s statement said.

“President Farahi’s meeting today with students and his statement of support for their right to express themselves is too little, too late,” Slaughter said. “This president has not done enough to stop the culture of racism on campus. What happened Tuesday evening is a high profile example, but certainly not the first incident of discrimination at Kean.”

The coalition pointed out that the NAACP is investigating Kean University for firing a large number of African-American women on suspicious grounds.

“While we should all be shocked about the threat that was made against black students, those of us who are familiar with the atmosphere at Kean and who have talked with faculty and students are not surprised this happened,” said Bishop Jethro James, president of the Newark/North Jersey Committee of Black Churchmen. “Just as the case at the University of Missouri, President Farahi has been tone deaf on the issue of race.”

University police notified Homeland Security, state, county, and local municipalities, and increased security on campus. Security will remained heightened today, Nov. 18 and through the remainder of the week, police said.

Despite the university’s efforts, the minister’s coalition was not satisfied.

The minister’s coalition also noted that President Farahi appeared to dismiss the seriousness of the threat by urging students to “continue in your normal routines” today.

“Telling black and brown students to continue your normal routines after a death threat clearly demonstrates a lack of racial sensitivity,” said the Rev. Joe Carter, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church. “Kean students have real reason to be concerned. Rather than telling them to act is if nothing happened, he should have made them feel safe.”

See Patch’s previous story about the event HERE.