University Response to Unrest
The response to the arrest of the Omaha 54 varied across the University community. A significant portion of campus saw the arrests as an abuse of power and felt some of the demands made by BLAC were reasonable and necessary.
The student Senate made numerous public statements after the arrests, condemning President Naylor for failing to listen to the valid complaints of frustrated students. Steve Wild, the President of the Student Senate was one of the most vocal members of the Student Senate in voicing support for BLAC and the demands made to President Naylor.[1]
Other supportive voices could be found in across the campus. Dale Stover, a Religious Studies professor, wrote an article for the Gateway pointing out the demands matched up with issues he saw on campus. However, the university was divided about whether the actions of BLAC were justified. The University Senate supported President Naylor's actions, viewing the arrests as maintaining order and protecting his office and the University from a possible threat, despite Naylor's insistence that students remained peaceful and respectful of persons and property.[2]
President Naylor called for an all-faculty and staff meeting on November 19 and 20, respectively, to discuss the sit-in and the decision to involve the police. He framed the meetings as means to create and maintain lines of communication throughout the University.[3]
After the arrest, the University Human Relations Committee launched a review of BLAC's demands and examined policies on campus. Their investigation into BLAC's demands showed that serious grievances existed on campus and dissatisfaction and guilt was felt by many university members in relation to the arrests.[4]
At the direction of the University Senate, an Ad Hoc Committee on Student's Demands and Grievances was formed to “consider the demands and complaints of students on this campus.” [5] This seven-person committee was composed of four professors from various departments in Arts and Sciences, two students, and the Dean of the College of Continuing Studies. The Ad Hoc committee surveyed the student body and interviewed around 600 members of 13 various student organizations on campus. The committee gathered data regarding students’ view of university policies, procedures, governing bodies on campus, and administration. The committee received 6,405 survey responses, more than 50% response rate from the 11,500-student population. The results from this survey “reveals a significant level of student grievance and concern which strongly focuses on some of the same areas of complaint mentioned and acted upon by a contingent of our black students." [6]
Committee members concluded that "Black students spoke in November, in substance if not form, not for themselves but for a substantial portion of the UNO student body, particularly in those matters involving the operation of the Student Center and student control of student activities.
"The committee recommends and urges that the University Senate recommend that University officials and legal counsel move, seek and support utmost leniency on behalf of the 54 UNO black students who are scheduled to appear in Omaha Municipal Court as a consequence of the sit-in..." [7].