UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In a packed auditorium on campus Wednesday evening, students were encouraged to voice their concerns during the “#BlackLivesMatter: WHO CARES?” open forum for Penn State community members.
“Now more than ever is the time for you to leave a legacy that will not be tarnished,” said Carlos Wiley, Penn State Paul Robeson Cultural Center director, to the crowd of more than 350 students, faculty, staff and administrators gathered in the Freeman Auditorium at the HUB-Robeson Center.
After brief introductions, moderators Wiley and Penn State student Michael Banks opened up the forum for discussion. Students and a handful of faculty and staff members stood in line to share their personal experiences — positive and negative — during their time at Penn State, express opinions about the national Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases that have made headlines in the news, and suggest steps that Penn State can take to create a more welcoming environment.
The forum, presented by the Penn State Student Black Caucus, Department of African-American Studies and the Paul Robeson Cultural Center, was organized after a week of student-led “die-in” protests across campus last week, which also was a point of discussion.
Student Nadia Lehtihet addressed the negative biased comments posted to social media in response to the protests held at the HUB, Old Main and Pattee Library.
“I think it says a lot that the Penn State students who chose to make racist comments chose Yik Yak, because they couldn't sign their name to the statements they were making,” Lehtihet said. “And it hurts me to see people making comments like that, because I know that is not the heart of Penn State. Although we might not see a lot of white faces in the audience today, I want you to know that there are a lot of people who do care about these issues, even if they're not willing or maybe not obliged to take that next step and to protest.”
Student Naeem Holamn said he understood that there were some students who wondered why the protests would take place in a town like State College, and he encouraged students to take the message home with them during school breaks, the summer months and after graduation.
“The reason why I participated in the beautifully organized protest that happened last week is because I'm from the south Bronx,” Holman said. “We all go back to Philly, to D.C., Pittsburgh, Texas, Los Angeles, wherever the case may be. This is where a lot of these things are happening.”
Holman added that while his community might consider him a “success story,” he worries about his siblings at home.
“To my peers who are concerned about how all of us perceive police, we don't perceive police in a bad way,” he said. “We perceive the system in which they function as problematic. We want to change the system; the system determines how people think when they're submerged in it.”
Aaron Love, a postdoctoral fellow in the Africana Research Center at Penn State, expressed his support for students who may feel marginalized because of negative experiences on campus.
“You are part of a longer narrative of folks who are dealing with the microcosm that Penn State represents in terms of America's politics of racism,” Love said, adding “there's nothing wrong with blackness. You have not beaten the system by arriving at Penn State. Education and blackness have been synonymous since the beginning of time.”
In addition to talking about personal experiences and discussing current events, Wiley asked the audience to share thoughts on how Penn State could improve the campus environment for all students.
Among the suggestions were making education about different races mandatory for all students, creating a full-scale anti-racism campaign across campus, enacting a zero-tolerance policy for hate crimes, and creating more transparency and inclusion of more students in diversity committees on campus.
As the discussion ended, interim Vice Provost for Educational Equity Marcus Whitehurst recognized the Penn State administrators and leaders in attendance.
“These individuals are here because they hear your voices,” Whitehurst said. “I feel your pain. I've experienced your pain. I've been at Penn State now for 19 years. … All 19 years have been in the Educational Equity Office. My role has been to fight for civility, equity, inclusion, and inclusive excellence for all of us at Penn State. With that said, you never have to demand anything from me. You can just come speak with me at any time. If you have any recommendations, any thoughts, any opinions, any concerns, I'm open to hear them.”
The two-hour discussion was live-streamed by WPSU. Wiley encouraged students to continue to use the hashtag #PSUWHOCARES to express their stories and suggestions with the Paul Robeson Cultural Center and Penn State administrators.
Following the “die-in” demonstrations last week, administrators met with protesting students to discuss other possible avenues to help address the campus climate and foster a more inclusive environment. Some of the initiatives discussed include:
— A meeting next semester with black student leaders and leadership of local law enforcement, the University, State College Borough, and Patton and Ferguson townships;
— Focus group breakfasts for senior University leaders with various students of color;
— The creation of a CAPS presence in the Robeson Center during highly stressful times;
— A review with University Police and Office of Physical Plant to focus on the lighting and emergency phone concerns that students have raised; and
— A possible campaign to raise awareness about the possible misuse of social media, particularly Yik Yak, and the harms that can result.