Jason Washington Art Committee

MISSION STATEMENT

As part of an educational institution, the Jason Washington Art Committee values the learning afforded by a powerful and sensitive work of art in the ongoing activity of memorialization. The committee believes that the process of creating a work of art, its public display, and structured engagement are all activities that, if carefully planned and managed with intention, can support restorative justice on our campus and healing in our community. Restorative justice demands that the needs of those most harmed by a crime be at the center of a reconciliation or reparative process. The committee sees its work squarely in line with the recent reorientation of PSU, articulated by President Percy, as an institution in which “equity and racial justice [are] the top strategic priority” (23 June 2021) and as centrally featured within the Reimaging Campus Safety initiative.

VISION STATEMENT

The Jason Washington Art Committee’s vision statement is intended to guide the university's obligation to remember the life of Jason Washington. The committee sees the work of remembering as part of the institutional accountability for Mr. Washington’s death at the hands of campus police in 2018. The committee’s vision centers on fostering racial justice and is rooted in an appreciation for the life that Jason Washington lived, the people he loved, and the service to the community and country that shaped his life.