Students celebrate the resignation of University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe amid allegations of racism.
Advertisement
“The black student body stood strong and we’re standing right there with them”, Mario Morrow, jr., president of DePaul’s Black Student Union said. Coordinated by the group POC at IC, several protest actions including the November 11 “die-in” have drawn attention to a series of racially charged incidents on the campus in upstate NY, including one where a Black student was referred to as a “savage” by two white male alumni.
Students on the Columbia, Mo., campus have staged rallies and protests, and the university president has resigned after being criticized for failing to be responsive to student concerns.
“That’s why we need to be more of the campus that we are”, Karbhari said.
“We did stand for black lives matter”, Pringle said Monday.
These same students gathered again Monday to discuss the lessons of the last week and commit to furthering their cause in the future.
They described their life at the university with the words “motivated”, “misunderstood”, “challenged” and “joy”.
Jackson, who organized the event with Grace Kim, a junior in CAS, said students must set examples and enact change, no matter how long it takes.
The Facebook event had over 1,000 responses, which shocked Jackson, who said she only expected around 50 people to show up.
A few say that this is a shining moment, one in which oppressed students fought back against the evil white patriarchy. Like Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I went on Twitter to check out the #BlackOnCampus conversation to see what students are saying about the growing racial upheaval. John Cowan, a white graduate student at the university, said he was on hunger strike until all of the “diversity demands” were met.
“Now we’re just looking at what is actually changing on their campus”, she added. A student who was one of the original organizers of the group was not immediately available for comment.
Bahr said she is not aware of any racial incidents on campus that would warrant similar protests, but if there were, she said, she thinks there would be a “comparable movement” at UC Berkeley.
The tempo of the on-campus protests and crisis reached its climax when a group of African-American Mizzou football players joined the protests. That’s also a demand made by protesters at Missouri.
About 15 percent of Brenau’s faculty, staff and administration is African-American, according to school officials.
“I think the only way to start dealing with it is to talk about it, and we should talk about (these issues) more often”, Arwen Hoots, an intercultural communications student who has been following social justice issues around the nation, said.
“It’s hard at times, sometimes you feel your needs aren’t being met, but that’s the reason why we do things like this, so that we can bring awareness to it”, said student Danequa Yarbrough. We know that the university’s resistance to organized labor negatively impacts those who work at Yale as well as all those living in the New Haven community. They are against free speech, as, it seems, most American university students are against it – at least when their own political views seem to be prevailing.
The message is embraced even if all the tactics are not.
However, many wonder will these student-led demonstrations will accomplish. “It is just the feeling of not being heard, not being respected, and being placed on the margins of what’s happening in the world”.
After the national attention received by the University of Missouri protests and Wolfe’s resignation, students at colleges across the country have increased pressure on campus leaders to address recurring acts of racism and issues of underrepresentation and diversity.
“I was glad that I retired”, Middleton said.
“My role has been as an ally”, he added. She wishes change wasn’t necessary.
Advertisement
“Raise your hand if you’re a little bit uncomfortable”, she said as a smattering of hands went up.
