Justice for Dr. Antwi Akom

President Robert A. Corrigan
San Francisco State University

Dear President Corrigan,

The Faculty, Staff and Student population of San Francisco State University are outraged by the actions of Wackenhut Security and SFSU "Department of Public Safety," against Dr. Antwi Akom, Assistant professor of Africana Studies. We are happy that you have addressed the situation and have appointed a review team; however, we feel that additional action is needed.

1. We expect that the University will pull all of its resources together in urging the D.A. to drop all charges against Prof. Akom.

2. We respectfully suggest that the University issue a public statement condemning the practice of racial profiling and the actions of the Security Guard and DPS in this case. We would like a formal apology be given to Dr. Akom, as well.

3. We expect the officers and security guard to be held accountable for their actions and we believe that this should mean the immediate termination of their employment.

4. We are committed to the principle of ethical and social responsibility within our community. With that said, we propose that DPS require some sort of diversity training for all incoming officers and those currently employed by the University. This could mean taking some of the Introductory Ethnic Studies courses offered by the College of Ethnic Studies, or hiring an outside company to teach issues to those employed by DPS on ethical issues in diversity.

This is the second time such an incident has occurred to Prof. Akom. Why wasn't anything done last year? In other words, why wasn't a policy put in place when he reported racial antagonism and racial profiling on the part of the SFSU PD to the Dean (who forwarded the message to the Police Chief last year)? Why did no one address his concerns?
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Can other faculty and students of color feel safe in their own offices or on their own campus? Is the administration supporting the creation of a safe work/campus environment? Shouldn't the police and professors/students/staff/administration be working together not against one another to create a safe work and learning environment?

In the interest of fairness and reminding the broader community of SFSU's commitment to fairness, equal treatment under the law, and due process, we urge you to act expeditiously on this matter. We are outraged that charges against Dr. Akom have not yet been dropped by the university. Dr. Akom is a brilliant scholar, an amazing person, exceptional teacher, and we should be happy to have him on campus serving us. We should be doing everything in our power to see that he remains a part of our community.

We ask you President Corrigan: Do you know what racial profiling looks like? This could have been any of us, and everyday it happens to many of us.