Protests exploded last week at the Mizzou campus of the University of Missouri when racist threats appeared around the campus from white supremacist groups and anonymous students. While these threats made the campus unsafe for students of color, university President Tim Wolfe did little to address the threats until he resigned last Monday following rising protests and a hunger strike. A similar situation arose at Yale University when, in response to an email sent out by the administration about offensive Halloween costumes, a professor in charge of a residential college wrote about the freedom to wear appropriative costumes. Students took issue with the idea that the faculty, charged with providing a welcoming living space for all students, were actively supporting offensive Halloween costumes. Additionally, in the past few days, the president of Claremont McKenna College resigned over the issue of an email where he referred to a Latina student as not fitting into the “CMC mold”.
NYU’s own administration took the time to reaffirm its commitment to listening to the student complaints and working towards a more inclusive and safe environment on NYU’s campus by sending out a community wide letter on Thursday night. In it, they recognized the struggle of students of color and called the university "a place where the difficult and urgently needed conversations about race and diversity can and ought to take place."
Students, primarily from the New School and NYU decided to take action, gathering under the arch in Washington Square Park on Friday to stand in solidarity with Mizzou University and Yale students in their protests for black student safety and an end to institutionalized racism on college campuses.
Black students were invited to “share their truth” and speak to their personal experiences. Babs Byrd, a student at the New School, expressed her frustration, “I’m tired of getting the short end of things…I’m tired of being scared to go to certain places in New York City." New York is generally seen as a diverse city, but black students found themselves surprised when they moved here, one saying, “I thought New York was a very diverse place and I didn’t think that I would have as many issues as I did."
The students also spoke to the difficulties of the collegiate environment for black students. There were calls of support as one student praised “the strength of the students that are here for a progressive liberal arts education and aren’t getting the attention they deserve." Speaker Maya Evans expressed her anger that “[black students] only matter in their diversity numbers” and another student added to this later saying, “I am tired of not being able to have accomplishments because no one believes we are capable of anything."
All photos by Amanda Choy
Due to the nature of rallies, many powerful quotes have gone unattributed in this article. If you see one that should be attributed to you or someone you know, please contact the author at cece.charendoff@nyu.edu.
