Attorney General Eric Holder praises SLU president for handling of campus protest
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has offered high praise to St. Louis University President Fred Pestello, commending him for his handling of last month's Occupy SLU protest.
In a letter delivered to the university late last month, Holder called Pestello's leadership, nothing short of exemplary" in his managing of the Occupy SLU protest.
Occupy SLU was an outgrowth of wider protests of police shootings that have taken hold in the area since the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.
Organized by students and a number of community groups, more than 1,000 people gathered in front of the university's clock tower on the first night of the protests.
In the following days, Occupy SLU turned into an encampment with roughly two dozen protesters living in tents advocating for equality and racial justice.
Protesters, some of whom were students, stayed in their tents for nearly a week before reaching an agreement with Pestello to end the encampment.
The negotiations were among Pestello, the university's Black Student alliance, a protest group called Tribe X and the Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equity, or M-SLICE.
Among the items in the agreement is a larger budget for SLU's African-American Studies program, more money to keep minority students from dropping out; and the establishment of a K-12 bridge program to increase the number of college-bound children in the Normandy and Shaw neighborhooods.
Holder's letter to Pestello credited the university president with confronting simmering conflicts in the St. Louis area and helping to reduce tensions.
Amid reports of continuing conflict, your steady hand, your respect to everyone involved, and your fidelity to the rule of law, as well as the Jesuit values that define the institution you lead have enabled you to bring about a constructive and nonviolent resolution to the encampment at St. Louis University, Holder wrote.
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Attorney General Eric Holder praises SLU president for handling of campus protest