In September, a group comprised of University of Denver students organized a peaceful demonstration to protest the school’s “Pioneers” mascot.

The university responded last week and several others made by the group Righteous Anger Healing Resistance, which was also included in a resolution by the university’s Undergraduate Student Government.

But the group has decried DU’s response, which included declining to meet a handful of the demands, saying it “represents the University of Denver’s violent commitment to colonialism and white supremacy.”

An organizer for RAHR — which is not an official university student group — told the DU Clarion in September the name glorifies people who had a role in genocide and taking land from Native people, and reinforces the trauma of that history. 

The group also circulated a list of seven demands of the university, including: Changing the Pioneers moniker, the creation of a Critical Race and Ethnic Studies department, a seat for students on the Board of Trustees by December, reconstitution of the Native American Advisory Board, engagement with Native communities through programs such as scholarships and mentorship, more hiring and retention of faculty members of color and severing all ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a lengthy response attributed to Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, published on DU’s website Oct. 21, the university acknowledged the controversy surrounding the Pioneers mascot but said DU will continue to use it.

“What we unconditionally denounce is the tragic violence and injustice against Native people denoted by the term pioneer,” reads the statement.

“What we avow is the pioneering spirit — the courage and resilience to think and act boldly; to break through barriers as explorers, innovators, and frontrunners into the future.”

The university also declined to sever ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and detention facilities.

The response says DU doesn’t cooperate with immigration actions unless ordered to by a court or other “similar process,” and doesn’t share employee information without consent or unless required by law.

“The demand to divest from any and all ties with correctional facilities is a complex issue with no simple solution, and the University will not be able to fulfill these expectations,” says the response.

It goes on to say some faculty members do scholarly research involving the prison system that tends to focus on rehabilitation and well-being of people serving sentences, and some students want to pursue careers in law enforcement or corrections.

“Severing all ties with these facilities would adversely affect these goals and negatively impact incarcerated persons by reducing their access to valuable resources and relationships.”

The response also says DU does not plan to add a student, faculty or staff member to the Board of Trustees.

Haefner’s letter points to the Board of Trustees Committee on Learning and Student success, on which undergraduate and graduate student representatives sit, and says Haefner and Board Chair Denise O’Leary “will ask CLASS to provide input and new ideas on the best way forward.”

In response to RAHR’s other demands, the university’s statement says it will schedule new meetings with the current Native American Community Advisory Board.

It comprises members of the DU community and representatives of Native nations, including the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute nations.

The response also says the university will place flags gifted by several Native nations in its Community Commons.

In response to RAHR’s ask for more hiring and retention of faculty of color, Haefner’s letter pointed to an increase in full-time faculty of color from 14% to 20% since 2014.

He says the university is in the process of hiring a Black Experience coordinator for developing practices to hire and retain Black faculty. DU also has an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

RAHR has posted several statements on social media expressing the group’s disapproval of DU’s response.

In a statement posted to Facebook on Oct. 21, the same day DU published Haefner’s response, the group said organizers had met with Haefner that morning.

“Aside from committing to fulfill a handful of recommendations made in the John Evans report in 2014, there was no commitment to fulfilling any of our demands in full,” reads the statement. 

Evans was the founder of DU. He served as governor of the Colorado Territory and the territorial superintendent of Indian affairs when the Sand Creek Massacre took place, an 1864 incident in which U.S. militia attacked and killed about 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho tribe members.

A study committee organized several years ago by DU faculty found Evans culpable for the massacre in his leadership as superintendent of Indian affairs. 

An email sent to the DU community by Haefner outlining DU’s response “represents the University of Denver’s violent commitment to colonialism and white supremacy,” says RAHR’s statement. “DU’s continued perpetuation of harm and failure to meet our demands is unacceptable and we will not allow these actions to go unchecked.”

Another recent Facebook post from the group includes a photo, dated 1979, of what appears to be DU students dressed up in Native American costumes with the hashtag #ThisIsWhatPioneeringLooksLike. 

The Denver Gazette has reached out to RAHR and a DU spokesman for further comment on the university’s response.