We acknowledge that the federal government funded Rutgers as a Land Grant University through the Morrill Act of 1862, which authorized white colonists and the US government to sell "unclaimed land" they had stolen through violent warfare and the forced removal of tribal nations.
We acknowledge that Rutgers depended on enslaved people to build its campuses and serve its students and faculty. As we commit to learning about histories and counter narratives of power and oppression, we must be mindful that we teach, work, and live on Indigenous land at an institution that depended on the sale of Black people to fund its very existence.
We acknowledge the Indigenous and enslaved people who contributed to the wealth of Rutgers and the histories of New Jersey and the United States as complicit in a system of racism based on white supremacy.
Through our efforts, we will work to honor the Lenni-Lenape, other Indigenous caretakers of these lands and waters, Indigenous and Black elders who lived here before, those who were forcibly removed to the west and north, those who were enslaved, the Indigenous tribal and Black communities here today, and the generations to come. We lift the voices of members of these communities, working to abolish racism and discrimination through our teaching and community work; and support community-driven organizations aimed at economic, social, and political empowerment of these communities.
Take Action!
Donate, Volunteer, Direct Relief
- Black Community Watchline
- New Brunswick Tomorrow
- New Labor
- Civic League of Greater New Brunswick
- Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
- NAACP- New Brunswick Chapter
- Indigenous Kinship Collective
Resources
- Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation Website
- Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Regalia in New Jersey
- Download this document as a PDF here
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