A statement on the Derek Chauvin trial verdict

Today, we saw something that we don’t often see in America: accountability when Black life is taken at the hands of police.

As we, along with communities across the country, waited for this verdict to be announced, we have grappled with the deeply flawed system in which we live and operate: one where we hope for justice for a murder we all watched happen, but knowing that historically, a guilty verdict has rarely been delivered in similar cases.

Today feels like a much-needed step forward, but the work towards justice continues. We continue to stand with the family and friends of George Floyd, with the loved ones of Daunte Wright and countless others who have been killed at the hands of police before and since, and with the Black community.

Above all, we stand with our students, who are both witnessing and participating in this moment. We wrap ourselves in hope and action together with them, with our partners, and with each other in community, until the fact that Black Lives Matter is demonstrated in laws, policies, policing, and in education. We must do this together, in pursuit of a more just and more hopeful future for our students and for all of us.