“I think that CUC needs to show people of color that they are here for them, that they care about them, and that their complaints are being heard and taken seriously,” These are the words of recent Concordia graduate Bryant Brown. He proudly shares his thoughts and insights on a topic that needs no introduction: how the minorities feel on campus. Bryant has dedicated his four years to Concordia and has spent some as a resident assistant (RA) which allows him to see our campus life in a different light than the majority see it during regular working hours.
It has come to recent light, that a student at Concordia has maliciously used a discriminating hate word to refer to another student of color and that comment was shared through social media. A wonderfully large amount of people decided to bring this up with Concordia administration, and our caring President, Dr. Gard decided to handle the situation quickly and tastefully. Regardless to what happened online, a good number of our student body feel that this is not the first, and certainly not the last time something like this will happen, but it is time that the voices are heard of the students who feel injustices happen in everyday life here at our school.
Bryant shares that he overall feels accepted on campus as a person of color, but notices that there are a handful of our campus body that go out of their way to make the minorities feel uncomfortable. “There are many students of color who feel unwanted and there some students and staff that go a long way toward contributing to that feeling.
The students and staff that perpetuate this divide aren’t in the majority, but they are decidedly noticeable and that attitude needs to stopped.” What is seen through the passing eyes of any individual that comes through Concordia, is how amazingly diverse and accepting our campus is, even though that may be the hope of our mission, we still have incidents that slip through the cracks of this mission.
Bryant, again shares that as an RA he, himself, has also experienced this discriminating behavior as he has heard people in his residence hall use the “n” word to refer to him or other people on his floor. This behavior is not uncommon behind closed doors, but this is when it matters the most. This is a place that some call home and to think they would be discriminated in their own home is terrifying.
President Gard shares that he “sees every student on our campus as a child of God” hopes there would never be any discrimination to any one student or group on this campus. I know the majority of our student body hope to see the same from their peers and staff. When a horrifyingly injustice happens on our campus, the few that make our students feel unwanted or unsafe need to know that this behavior is not tolerated.
The minorities on campus need to know their voices are heard. “I think a big part of students changing things is keeping an open mind when a person of color says there’s a problem. A lot of time when students of color try to bring instances of discrimination to the attention of other students, they’re met with skepticism or disbelief.” Bryant loudly speaks his words of wisdom those whom he feels are able to make the change.
