Pratt Institute offers paid position as a BLM Graduate Assistantship

The Black Lives Matter chapter at the Pratt Institute in New York City has hired an individual to fill a paid “Graduate Assistantship” position. The responsibilities of the position include, “planning event logistics and BLM Mentorship Program,” and “promote events on BLM Social Media Platforms (Instagram, Twitter.)” 

The GA position pays $16 an hour with the ability to work up to 20 hours a week.

The application for the position states that the GA will work closely with the Diversity for Equity and Inclusion Coordinator, who is part of Pratt’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion according to the DEI progress report. 

”Pratt Center staff and fellows are actively encouraged to participate in cross-campus dialogues, DEI trainings, and events. The Center
has two designated representatives to BLM Pratt, to which we have contributed funding and programming for the last three-plus years,” the progress report on the institute’s website states. 

Campus Reform confirmed the position with the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Jazmin A. Peralta who said, “BLM has recently hired a BLM Graduate Assistant. We are no longer hiring.”

The various responsibilities are broken down into three main categories: event planning, social media and website, and archiving.

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The event planning section lists responsibilities including, “Assist BLM Co-Chairs and DEI Program Coordinator in planning event logistics and BLM Mentorship Program” as well as “act as Liaison for vendors, artists, staff, and faculty we collaborate with for BLM meetings and events.”

The social media responsibilities include “promote[ing] events on BLM Social Media Platforms (Instagram, Twitter),” and “ensur[ing] BLM makes at least 1 post per month on the website and social media platforms. Besides the posts scheduled by the Co-Chairs, the GA can also make suggestions for posts content [sic] and visuals.”

Archiving responsibilities include “document[ing] and archiv[ing} artifacts such as work produced or posters from all BLM events and assist with organizing the BLM Drive.” The job skills and qualifications portion of the flyer lists several requirements for the position such as being a Pratt graduate student, having experience with planning events, and having good communication skills.

The institute’s website for the BLM chapter states, “The mission of Pratt Institute is to educate artists and creative professionals to be responsible contributors to society. Black Lives Matter at Pratt is an advocacy group invested in working within and alongside the institution to achieve this mission.” The website also links to the official BLM website explaining what the group is about and its progressive agenda.

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Pratt BLM’s website states that part of the chapter’s curriculum is to, “encourage and collaborate with faculty members to incorporate the #BlackLivesMatter movement into their class curriculum.”

Pratt Institute isn’t the first college to encourage students to get involved with BLM activism. 

As previously reported by Campus Reform, Boston University sent a letter to students that encouraged Black Lives Matter protests.

Campus Reform also reported on Arizona State University, which went so far as to fire a student over a tweet that questioned the narrative surrounding the Jacob Blake shooting.  The student is now suing the university for her termination, stating, “The lawsuit is based solely on free speech and content-based discrimination which is something that we see on college campuses across the country.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @mn_turn