SUNY Downstate students join nationwide ‘die-in’
More than 30 SUNY Downstate medical students on Wednesday participated in a 45-minute ‘die-in’ demonstration at the SUNY Downstate Health Science Education Building in Brooklyn. Students at dozens of medical schools across the country participated in similar protests on Wednesday.
The students were rallying against grand juries’ failure to indict police for killings in New York and Ferguson. The students said they also hoped to spotlight systemic racial bias as a public health issue.
“We as medical students feel that this is an important time for medical institutions to respond to the violence and race-related trauma that affect our communities and the patients we serve,” the students wrote in a statement.