Making #BlackLivesMatter On Campus: Continuing the Momentum from Fall 2014
Dr. Desiree D. Zerquera
Cultural centers on college campuses play multiple and significant roles for the campus and the lives of students. They supplement the academic curriculum, providing holistic support to students and playing a big role in educating the broader campus community on issues of equity and social identities. For students individually, these centers play vital roles in serving as safe havens within chilly campus climates and fostering identity and self worth. Thus, it is not surprising that these centers often play a significant role during times when we are faced with events that raise issues regarding social inequities and injustices.
The latter half of 2014 triggered a series of demonstrations and activism , largely in response to the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and the acquittal of the police officers who were charged with their deaths. Demonstrations emerged across the country, calling for awareness and societal change. Not just isolated to Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, New York, all across the country demonstrators marched, rallied, and protested in solidarity, while calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism. College students too participated and were active on and off campus in calling for changes in our justice system and society.
Student activism has played a vital role during social movements of the US in particular. For instance, anti-war movements during the 1960s and 1970s on college campuses helped inform national dialogue on the issue . More recently, college students have played a vital role in advocating for opportunities for undocumented immigrants . Thus it is not surprising that while groups across the country marched, rallied, and demonstrated, students too felt called to action, or in the words of a student at the University of Kentucky—“to do something”. Amidst colder temperatures and final exams, students came together, and in many cases turning to cultural centers to provide gathering spaces, support, and strategy.
What Happened on College Campuses?
These demonstrations took many forms, often including multiple events within a single gathering. Here are some highlights of ways students on campuses reacted November-December:
Social Media
In today’s technology age, social media provides immediate access to an infinite community. Social media served as an important outlet during these past few months of demonstrations as a means of organizing, sharing photos from events, and posting updates. For instance, state-wide student demonstrations in New Jersey used #NJShutItDown to share photos from demonstrations that ranged across the state. Similarly, medical students nationwide created #WhiteCoats4BlackLives , holding nation-wide demonstrations for students from medical schools across the US.
Additionally, social media provided an outlet for solidarity and for students who could not make it to on-campus demonstrations. For example, Vanderbilt University students were encouraged to tag themselves via #BlackOutVU when they couldn’t make it to the marches and vigils on their Nashville campus.
Vigils
Vigils were common, allowing students and campus communities time to honor those who had passed. These are often times for observance, reflection, and community. While in many cases vigils are quiet, on some campuses, these were also times for active community. For instance, Vanderbilt University held an all-day vigil in the university chapel, which included public statements by religious leaders as well as administrators. There were performances of spoken word and song in addition to community prayer.
Town Hall Meetings
Large meetings provided outlets for reflection and discussion, often times for not just students but faculty, staff, and members of the broader campus community as well. At Purdue University, for example, groups met at their Latino Cultural Center to discuss racial tension and cultivate an action plan for demonstrations on campus. These discussions often not only focused on the larger issues within society, but also provided a venue to discuss issues of racial discrimination on their our own campuses as well. As stated by Purdue students to the LaFayette’s local newspaper, the discussions on campus brought attention to the fact that “there are problems here” with racial injustice on campus.
Rallies & Marches
Thousands of students rallied and marched, in, around, and out of campus. These student-led demonstrations were often coupled with moments of silence, and included “Blackouts” in which participants dressed all in Black, walked with their hands up signifying the motto of “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”, and carried signs pointing to racial injustices.
At Princeton, a student-led Walk Out was held during class-meeting times and work hours and included faculty and staff, with an explicit aim to bring attention to ongoing racial bias on campus. On Syracuse’s campus , hundreds marched across campus into downtown Syracuse at rush hour, stalling traffic. Ohio State’s rally included a march to Hale Black Cultural Center and 4.5 minutes of silence in honor of Michael Brown.
Statements of Action
Students not only organized and discussed, but also articulated their concerns into lists of demands and recommended actions. For instance, Ohio State’s rallying also included delivering a letter with statements of demands to the Internal Affairs Bureau of Columbus Police demanding for a functional, independently acting review board to keep an eye on the activity of the Columbus Police. The University of San Diego’s Black Student Union issued a public statement via a letter, that was shared widely across campus including via the Cross Cultural Center . In it, they condemned court decisions and expressed their own sense of responsibility “to speak out and mobilize on behalf of the members of our community that are disproportionately affected by the gross malfeasance of the American justice system”.
Die-Ins
Invoking the effective student-led sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement and approaches taken by other social rights groups, college students across the nation facilitate “Die-Ins” in which students lay down on the floor, the spirit of which to represent people who had been killed by racial injustice. At the University of Kentucky, for instance, students held a 30-minute die in to raise awareness to profiling in a building occupied primarily by faculty offices. A die in at the University of Nevada-Reno was held “against police violence” and many students held signs across their bodies. Pittsburg medical students followed suit , many wearing medical masks to in part bring attention as well to the ways race plays role in who receives medical care.
Now What?
Given all of this activity at the end of last semester, I’m curious—how is the world different for students now than it was before the latter part of 2014? And what can we as social justice advocates working in the heart of these issues on college campuses do about it?
As mentioned, during many of these events, students increasingly brought to the foreground within these discussions the ways racial injustices manifest within their own immediate campus communities. However, with the fall term and 2014 coming to an end, momentum of these demonstrations has waned. Cultural centers have the opportunity, and arguably the responsibility, to revisit conversations from last semester and help facilitate the political consciousness and social justice activism. MLK Day was an opportunity to reignite these conversations and actions, as many campuses did. The annual “Day on, Not a Day Off” efforts in recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King took the shape of marches and demonstrations across many campus communities. Here are some ideas of how you can continue to facilitate growth and learning on your own campus as a part of the #BlackLivesMatterMovement and in effort to situate your students in their learning and activism surrounding social injustices.
Foster Reflection
Reflection is a tool to promote deep learning and development. Consider facilitating reflection on the actions and activities of late 2014. Kolb’s theory of experiential learning provides a good foundation for learning from experience. It advances a cycle of learning that integrates new experiences into knowledge individuals already have and devises approaches for how to enact the new learning moving forward.
Consider passive programming such as community boards in common areas and online forums via social media with reflective questions students can respond to and engage with one another about. Or, consider creating a Journaling Group for your staff and/or as an ongoing program for students. Examples of questions to consider: “Why did you participate in demonstrations last semester?”, “What was most meaningful to you about this experience?”, and “What are other ways of fighting for social injustices in our society?”
Structure Activities to Promote Social Justice Development
College is a time of awakening for many students, as for some this is the first time they have had to consider issues of their own privilege or oppression. During the latter part of 2014 may have been the first time students engaged in social justice issues. Were there students who came to your center for the first time? Follow up with them. Invite them to events. Use your student ambassadors and student organization leaders to connect to those who reached out to them for the first time. Take advantage of this moment of activity on campus to engage with students in cultivating and advancing social justice orientation. Situate your programs and activities through your center within these aims and efforts.
Partnering with On-Campus Human Resources
As campus administrators struggled with questions about how to respond and engage with students regarding issues of racial injustice, you may have been reached out to for the first time by certain faculty members or administrators. Use these resources! Invite or collaborate on programming for the semester. Encourage faculty and point them to resources for how to implement social justice curriculum within their courses and consider co-curricular experiences to further emphasize these understandings.
Speak Back: What are you Doing on Your Campus?
We would love to hear from you about what is happening on your campus this semester! How have these efforts continued on your campus? And how have the actions of last semester changed the climate within your own campus community?
CONTRIBUTOR BIO: Dr. Desiree Zerquera is an Assistant Professor for Higher Education and Student Affairs in the Department of Leadership Studies. Born and raised in Miami, FL to Cuban parents, she pursued her bachelor's degree in Mathematics and master's degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Florida before attending Indiana University to pursue her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs. Desiree Zerquera has worked as a researcher, student affairs practitioner, and higher education administrator. Her research focuses on how inequalities structure the experiences of underrepresented students in accessing and succeeding in higher education, with expertise in the areas of organizational theory, public policy, financial aid, research methodology, and Latino student experiences.
To Learn More About Dr. Desiree Zerquera, visit: http://www.usfca.edu/Faculty/Desiree_Zerquera/
