Faculty, staff and students gathered in Student Union Building rooms 401 and 405 on Dec. 4 to discuss the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the related issues of police violence, racism and black lives.

On Dec. 4, Karanja Carroll, an associate professor of black studies, and Mark Colvson, dean of the Sojourner Truth Library, led a discussion on the controversial shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. The discussion was held at noon in Student Union Building rooms 401 and 405.

The event was an informal, brown bag conversation on the events in Ferguson and related topics such as racism, police violence and black lives. Attendees, which included faculty, staff and students, were encouraged by event organizers to “listen with tolerance, disagree with respect, and support with grace.”

The discussion was the second in a series of talks organized by LA&S faculty members. On Dec. 2, Carroll, along with sociology assistant professors Alexandra Cox and Roberto Velez-Velez, held a discussion entitled, “Ferguson, Brown, Wilson and the Aftermath: Disciplinary Conversations on Race and Policing,” from 6-8 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building Auditorium. The talk built upon topics explored in the Sojourner Truth Library display, “How We Got to Ferguson: An Interactive Bibliography,” which the professors curated.

In a Dec. 4 email sent to all faculty, staff and students, SUNY New Paltz President Donald Christian responded to the recent grand jury decisions to not indict officers involved in the killing of Brown and Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York. Both men were unarmed.

Christian thanked New Paltz faculty and staff for providing outlets for community discussion.

“The issues around these events are complex and inspire passionate reactions and responses from all perspectives,” said Christian. “We are glad to see the actions and outreach of our faculty and staff who have provided some forums for discussion and we encourage all to participate in this programming when possible.”

For faculty members seeking instructional resources on these topics, Cox recommended this crowd sourced teaching guide about Ferguson.