Please sign this petition to show your support to PROTECT the DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES at Saint Louis University.

On September 17, 2026, it was announced that the Department of African American Studies at SLU would undergo deep review to decide its future along with nine other programs and majors in Arts and Sciences. Citing budget shortfalls, this review process is part of a review of nearly 30 other programs across the university. A decision will be made in December. After only five years as a department, it is now facing an uncertain future, which could include consolidation, drastic reorganization or complete closure.

African American Studies has been taught at SLU since the 1970s, becoming a major in 2010, and finally earning full academic department status in 2021.  After the Ferguson Uprising of 2014, the ensuing community and student led protests that followed the murder of Michael Brown Jr., SLU’s then President Fred Pestello signed a agreement sponsoring the departmentalization African American Studies. The Department of African American Studies at SLU is one of only four such departments in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Black people make up over 40% of the St. Louis population. African American Studies is the intellectual arm of the local community.

The Department of African American Studies should not be sacrificed to meet financial challenges. The university cannot claim to walk with the poor and marginalized and then further minimize or eliminate already under-resourced departments in the university.