SPLC Outreach Director holds training at UW-Stout

SPLC Outreach Director, Lecia Brooks hosted a Community Response to Bias training for students and staff at UW-Stout on Saturday, January 31st. 

SPLC Outreach Director, Lecia Brooks hosted a Community Response to Bias training for students and staff at UW-Stout on Saturday, January 31st. 

““The training was a genuinely great experience that created a safe space for everyone involved. Personally, I appreciated the opportunity to express concerns about not only campus but also my place as an ally in an environment that was open and productive. I have done trainings similar to the bias/hate training but it did not involve nearly as much interaction and sharing throughout the process. This certainly added a level of inclusion especially for those who are generally quiet in those circumstances.””
— Shelby Schuppe '15

Experts: females and students of color face 'microaggressions' on campus

While some universities report an increase enrollment for women and students of color, those same groups say micro-aggression is a common occurrence on campus. Have you experienced micro-aggression on your campus, if so please share?

By Maggie Lit, January, 12, 2015 

A recent diversity project reportedly reveals the microaggression-filled environments females and students of color consistently face on college campuses.

The Voices of Diversity project—conducted by Paula Caplan, an associate at Harvard's DuBois Institute, Henry Louis Gates Jr., an Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, and Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President for Educational Testing Service—claims to investigate the “experiences of students of color and women students on campuses of predominantly white institutions.” In their findings, the professors say these students feel anything but welcome, according to Inside Higher Ed.

“People who are [the targets of microaggression] spend a great deal of time in internal dialogue, asking themselves whether they imagined or misinterpreted what the other person said or did and, given the less blatant form of mistreatment,” the authors told Inside Higher Ed. “[The] feeling apprehension and anguish [sic] about whether, if they try to name and object to what was done to them, they will only be told that they are overly sensitive or even that they are imagining it.”

““On all four campuses, racist and sexist treatment often take the form of micro-aggression, causing their targets confusion, sadness, self-doubt, anxiety, and frustration and constituting drains on their energy and attention.””

The report is based on online surveys and interview responses from more than 200 students at four higher education institutions: Missouri State University, two anonymous schools in the South and Midwest, and a private, elite school in the Northeast.

“Although the authors of recent studies and of decisions in court cases have reported that diversity is an important and beneficial part of the educational process, a disproportionate amount of the focus has been on diversity's benefits to white students,” wrote Caplan, the director of the project.

The authors noted the increase in minority enrollment in college but says it is not a coincidence that these students tend to graduate at lower rates than other students.

“On all four campuses, racist and sexist treatment often take the form of micro-aggression, causing their targets confusion, sadness, self-doubt, anxiety, and frustration and constituting drains on their energy and attention,” reads the report.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the report describes the alleged microaggressions and blatant acts of racism minority students constantly endure. One Latino student assured authors that she was mistaken for a custodian when hanging up posters in a dormitory. Several black students said campus police would often suspect they were trouble makers trying to cause problems when they were in the library studying.

“I go nuts, I do,” Gladys, a Latina senior is quoted saying the report. “It hurts so much, so much. It’s indescribable the way it makes you feel. Your whole body becomes hot and your eyes automatically become glassy, because you just feel so inferior.”

The report also claims that although women account for 57-percent on the student body at the institutions surveyed, they are trapped in a demeaning and sexist environment. Some women claimed the lack of female instructors and course material featuring women often made them feel unwelcome. They also claimed groping on campus was rampant.

“Because of the nature of students’ experiences of sexism and racism on campus, it is essential for university administrators to pay close and intense attention to the suffering that results from mistreatment and to take steps to change the chilliness of the climate for women and students of color," wrote the authors.

The authors claim an individualized report of the investigation’s finding has been sent to each university involved. One school is reportedly making changes already while the others are developing “comprehensive action plans.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MaggieLitCRO

 

Students help fight hate, promote acceptance with SPLC on Campus

Dwyer Freeman remembers reading about the civil rights movement in high school textbooks.

“I had always sensed a sort of finality, as if the [Southern Christian Leadership Conference] and [the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] had accomplished their goals, and there was no more work to be done,” the University of Alabama student said. “‘Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and all the problems were solved.’”

Freeman has since realized there is more work to be done to ensure equal justice and opportunity for all. That’s why she is starting a Southern Poverty Law Center club at the University of Alabama. It’s part of a new initiative – SPLC on Campus – an effort to help college students raise awareness about social justice issues with their peers and become agents of change within their community.

“We’re not as far removed from [former Alabama Governor George] Wallace’s ‘stand in the schoolhouse door’ as we would like to think,” Freeman said. “There is a need for awareness and open discussion, patience and personal connections to fight bigotry and bias present on campus and throughout the state of Alabama. SPLC on Campus will be a very effective way to facilitate this change.”

The SPLC is working with early adopters of the program at several campuses to fine-tune this new initiative to empower college students. The SPLC recently held a webinar to help students learn about its work, and more are planned for the future. Live, in-person events also are being planned.

At Eastern Kentucky University, organizers saw an SPLC club as a way to coordinate activities among groups focused on racial, immigration and LGBT issues. “We decided to start a SPLC on Campus group as soon as we learned of the program,” said Gary Potter, the club’s faculty adviser.

The club seeks to promote the idea that individuals have the power to transform their community.

“We started the SPLC chapter at Eastern Kentucky University with a vision to create not only social change but also to empower individuals to become independent actors of social change,” said club president Adrienne McCarthy. “Like the great civil and human rights activist Ella Baker once said, ‘Strong people don’t need strong leaders.’”

“The Community We Aspire to Be"

This hateful flyer was found on SPLC on Campus chapter Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. Similar flyers were distributed at the University of Kentucky earlier. Here's how UK's President responded, how would you handle this hateful propaganda?

By Eli Capilouto, December, 11 2014.

Dear Campus Community,

Whatever your perspective regarding the events in recent days in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, we should all be able to agree on one thing: they are tragedies — tragedies for the families involved, the communities impacted and all of us who have watched the painful conversations necessarily provoked across our country. It should be no surprise, moreover, that a university is where many of those difficult conversations are being held.

That is as it should be. That is who we are — a place safe for ideas, however challenging, to be given free voice. I am proud of the leadership of our students who have organized silent protests to express their outrage. These efforts are a demonstration, too, of the unyielding and unbreakable hope that we can finally muster the will and conceive the way to break down the unnecessary barriers that separate us.

However, the ability to challenge ourselves to promote peace and reconciliation is threatened by the anonymous reaction of a small number who choose to make incendiary and hate-filled comments behind the anonymity that social media sometimes affords. Everyone is entitled to their views, and college campuses are vibrant as places for robust debate about the issues of the day, safely ensconced in the mantle of free speech. It’s expected – and welcomed – that we will disagree as we participate in the spirited arena of ideas. But hate-filled slurs hurled for no reason other than to demean another person have no place here. Such language is indicative of narrow mindedness and mean spirit; and what I have read sickens me. It is not who we are or wish to be.

The reality of independent social media is we cannot control those conversations. But what we can and will continue to do is work hard to ensure the safety and dignity of our community and refuse to allow a hostile environment to take root on our campus.

We will not let the voices of a few define us. We will remain resolute in welcoming every member of the human family to join us here – to live, to learn, and to work; and to assert their views with the knowledge that they are full share-holders in this community of students and scholars. In that spirit of community, I stand firmly in support of those willing to protest, defend their views, and raise uncomfortable questions openly and honestly and with respect for others.

Words, of course, can dishearten and denigrate. But they also can – and should – galvanize and enlighten. For example, I was honored Wednesday to participate in a conversation at our Martin Luther King Center about the damage that is caused by bias and stereotype. Those who spoke reminded me, in vivid terms, of the harm that comes from words and actions; and they described their frustration and sadness at the unnecessary barriers that still divide us. That is the dialogue we must have – and continue to have – if we are going to continue the search for truth, peace, and justice.

It is against that backdrop of hopeful, but challenging dialogue that I want to express my deep appreciation to the members of our faculty and staff and to our students. Even with recent days of difficulty and painful reminders that we sometimes fall short of what we aspire to be in our country, we also are in a season of hope, a season of renewal. I see that spirit every day at this special place. Your talent, creativity, and hard work are the foundation for our success; and your love for and commitment to our campus community and the Commonwealth we serve reveals the giving heart and gentle soul of this special place. It is a gift to work alongside you in our common cause to improve the lives of others.

Our ultimate goal should forever be to create and sustain a community where everyone feels welcome, empowered, and safe. That is the community we are at the University of Kentucky.

Racists Posts on Yik Yak Prompt Student Protest at Colgate University

Students at Colgate University demonstrate against the treatment of minority students on campus and the University’s lack of diversity. Their activism sparked a backlash in social media. Read the article and see how they handled it. Discuss with your SoC chapter what you would have done.

By Avery Stone and Tyler Kingkade

Students at Colgate University have held a campus sit-in for three straight days, prompted in part by racist messages on the anonymous social media app Yik-Yak.

The protest started Monday when 300 students filed into the school's admissions building in Hamilton, New York, to demonstrate against the treatment of minority students on campus and the university's lack of diversity.

Inside Higher Ed reports that the protest was not only inspired by messages on Yik Yak, but by messages on other social media sites and comments made in person to students on the campus bus. Bigoted messages on Yik Yak have reportedly increased since the demonstration began (scroll down for examples).

Leading the protest efforts is the student-run organization Colgate University Association of Critical Collegians (ACC), who are promoting the sit-in on social media with the hashtags #CanYouHearUsNow and #ThisIsColgate. The group is also posting student video testimonials on YouTube, as well as photographs of students sharing their stories with handmade signs on Instagram.

A statement on the ACC's Tumblr page explains that the demonstration aims to raise awareness about various microagressions experienced by minority students at Colgate, whose undergraduate student body is approximately 70 percent white.

Additionally, the ACC published an action plan for administrators to help make Colgate more inclusive; the plan includes suggestions like requiring all faculty and staff to participate in sustained diversity training, making more financial aid available to needy students and hiring more minority faculty members.

"Until those action plans are met, we will pursue our sit-in here at the Hurwitz Office of Admission building," Sydni Bond, a student spokesperson for ACC, told Inside Higher Ed.

School officials responded Wednesday afternoon in writing to ACC's suggestions, with university president Jeffrey Herbst calling its response "comprehensive and intentional."

“We believe our response will be the basis for further discussion," Herbst said in a statement, adding that "Bias incidents and racism, while not unique to Colgate, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. They have no place on a college campus, and they have no place at Colgate. We have heard you, and we will join you in the common goal of creating a campus environment that is welcoming and supportive of all of our students."

The school didn't publish online the written response it delivered directly to student activists. On the ACC's Facebook page, several members expressed dismay with the document, with one characterizing it as "severely inadequate."

"The administration gave us a vague response to the action plans," read a tweet from the group Wednesday night, added that members were taking a dinner break before resuming discussions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/24/colgate-university-protest-racist-yik-yak_n_5875106.html?utm_hp_ref=student-activism

Five local colleges to join Ferguson National walkout in memory of Michael Brown

College students across the country stand in solidarity with Ferguson’s National Call to Action. How is your college responding to reactions to events out of Ferguson and beyond?

By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com 

Activists protesting the August police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri -- and a grand jury's subsequent decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the shooting -- march in downtown Northampton Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014.

In solidarity with Ferguson National Call to Action, students at five area colleges are planning to support a mass walkout at 1:01 p.m., the timeMichael Brown Jr. was killed by a Missouri police officer.

Students are being urged to walk out of their dorms, classes and jobs.

Following the walkout, there will be a 4.5 minute moment of silence in remembrance of the 4.5 hours the 18-year-old's body was left laying in the street after he was killed.

Students from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are asked to walk to the Student Union for the vigil; Mount Holyoke College students will meet at the Blanchard Bonfire Pit; Smith College students will meet at the Campus Center; Hampshire College students will gather in front of the library and Amherst College students will gather in front of Frost Library.

Nationwide activists are holding the event to protest the Monday decision by a Missouri grand jury not to indict Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot and killed the unarmed teen. Following days of protests this week, which included the burning of several Ferguson businesses and Black Friday mall shutdowns, Wilson resigned from the force on Saturday.

In Springfield a small group of people marched to the Police Station to protest the decision on Monday. That was followed by a larger protest in Northampton on Tuesday.

There was also a brief demonstration of about 20 people in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on Friday.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/five_local_colleges_to_join_fe.html

Join Us for Our First Webinar, November 19th at 3:00pm CT.

Join SPLC’s outreach director, Lecia Brooks, direct marketing manager, Seth Levi, and SPLC on Campus coordinator, Emily Mumford to learn more about SPLC and how you can create a successful campus chapter. We’ll share tips for conducting effective community outreach, coalition building and more.

Don’t miss this opportunity to have all your questions about SPLC on Campus answered.

Click on the link to register for the webinar today. http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=885166&s=1&k=8D839EE1F8E4C1E7EF14B98E7298A155

Email Emily Mumford at emily.mumford@splcenter.org with any questions or concerns.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is Energized by the Opportunity to Sponsor SPLC on Campus

We’re encouraged by the innovation and enthusiasm being sparked by college students and SPLC on Campus chapters across the country. From Eastern Kentucky University’s growing chapter of 30 plus members to individuals spearheading chapters at Alabama State University and North Country Community College, we believe this generation will have a profound influence on the future of our nation.

We are here to serve as a resource for you and your college. The goal of SPLC on Campus is to rally, encourage, and support the social advocacy already taking place on college campuses across the country.

Once you have decided you’re interested in starting an SPLC on Campus chapter and have found a faculty advisor, please register at http://www.splconcampus.org/register/.

Let us help you create a vibrant and engaged SPLC on Campus chapter. Please familiarize yourself with both our SPLC on Campus and SPLC webpages, as they include tips and tools that can help provide direction for your chapter. We also strongly recommend signing up for our newsletters here to receive updates on our work and information on new materials.

Lastly, we hope you reach out with any questions or concerns. We are here to support you and your chapter. Together, we can achieve great things. Have fun with it. Make it your own. We look forward to seeing the impact SPLC on Campus will have on campuses and communities across the country.