On Tuesday, Nov. 16, black students and organizations gathered together in a room on the third floor of the Student Activities Center (SAC). Students chattered as Dr. Timothy R. Ecklund, the Dean of Students at Stony Brook University, walked in the room with his assistant and casually took a seat on a table. The room was packed; there wasn't an empty seat in the large meeting room. The students and faculty gathered in the room came to discuss a recurring topic that affected every person sitting in the room. The students and faculty in the room came to discuss a topic that sometimes affected each one of them in a personal manner. The students in the room came to discuss what was going on at the University of Missouri and what it was like being a minority on campus.
If you aren't familiar with the events that have occurred/are still going on at the University of Missouri, CNN provides a great timeline and background of the protests at Mizzou. In the days before this meeting, students of Stony Brook, black, white and others, marched down the academic mall to the front of the Administration Building. The students wore black and held signs stating that they stood in solidarity with the students in protest at Mizzou, Yale and beyond. Among the students in attendance stood the president of the university, Dr. Samuel L. Stanley, who linked arms with students to show that he, too, stood in solidarity with the protesting university students across the nation.
On Tuesday, a few young women from the Black Womyn's Association (BWA) kicked off the forum by reading quotes from those who had been affected by the terrorist attacks in France, Nigeria and other nations. Afterward, one young woman read a reaction from someone who was a protestor at the University of Missouri, which then opened up to a panel of students from various other black student organizations, such as the African Student Union (ASU), Caribbean Student Organization (CSO), BWA and some historically African-American fraternities just to name a few.
The panel asked the crowd questions concerning life on campus as a minority student. Some of the questions asked were "Should black students just go to historically black colleges/universities in order to avoid discrimination?" "Do you feel like a minority at Stony Brook?" "Have you ever been in a racially discriminatory/uncomfortable situation on campus?"
"Should black students just go to historically black colleges/universities (HBCUs) in order to avoid discrimination?"
The students in the room (including myself) did not think that black students should attend HBCUs in order to avoid discrimination. The general idea, which I personally agree with, is that the world, once you get out of college, is not all one race, but rather a mixture of all races working, cooperating and coexisting with one another. Students wanted their college experience to reflect what the real world would be like outside of college, and to not stay in the comfort zone of their own race, but rather to make interracial and intraracial connections and friendships.
"Do you feel like a minority at Stony Brook?"
Generally, the students often felt like minorities at Stony Brook University. One student said that one could potentially feel solidarity in organizations such as ASU, BWA, CSO and various other black organizations on campus. However, when you walk around campus, when you grab a bite to eat at the SAC, or even when you sit down in class, you realize that there really aren't many people who look like you here at Stony Brook. Another thing that can make a black student feel like a minority at Stony Brook is looking at the staff of professors at Stony Brook. During my year-and-a-half here at Stony Brook, I've come in contact with two black professors, one whom I've never even had a class with.
"Have you ever been in a racially uncomfortable/discriminatory situation on campus?"
There were so many stories floating around the room that it was almost disheartening. Stories about students being asked if they had paid for their food in the Student Union because a worker assumed they were stealing the food. Stories about black students being called the N-word by others (maliciously and amicably) and not being comfortable being called that word. Stories about black students being asked if they belonged in an upper-division language class upon first arrival. Stories like my own, when students are called "not really black" or "oreos" because they do not fit the schema they have for black people.
Ultimately, the night was successful. Black students and students of other races as well came out and discussed how to make our campus racially harmonious. As the students of the University of Missouri continue to protest, we stand with you and with your cause, and seek to make campuses and university faculties across the nation more harmonious, empathetic and aware of the experiences and lives of students of all races.
