Faculty members in the education department at Westfield State are demanding the university require employees be taught about whiteness and white supremacy. This follows racist incidents including notes on dorm room doors of some black students.
Barbara Goff, a professor focusing on special education, said students were not involved with the drafting of the demands, but were able to give feedback.
"Our feeling is that our students need to know that their faculty stand in solidarity, that we are not letting them suffer this alone," Goff said.
To bring attention to the issues, Goff said students, faculty and administrators took part in a walkout Tuesday afternoon.
In an email, Westfield State said it will review the demands and try to meet them "where possible." The statement also said administrators are "dispirited and disheartened" by the racist incidents.