SHENECA SHARPE
Special to The Leader
Black Student Union (BSU) presented “Let Your Voice Be Heard,” an open forum where students of color were able to come and express their concerns, wants and needs as a student of Fredonia. This open forum had a diverse panel that consisted of students and professors with the same goal in mind as the audience: “What do students of color want?” It consisted of questions first for the faculty of the panel, Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Bill Boerner and Director for the Center of Multicultural Affairs Jellema Stewart.
One question that was for Stewart was, “Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of students of color that reach out for support?”
“No, I can relate and understand. As a woman of color I need to help, and I want to help, [but] you also have to understand that I cannot fix your issues either, because I’m not a therapist nor an adviser,” answered Stewart.
This forum was meant to help faculty and students who aren’t of color to understand the struggles people of color do face on- and off-campus.
Now, this forum wasn’t just all negative things, but positive ones as well.
“Coming to Fredonia was the first time I’ve met black queer people, ever,” said Isabella X, a sophomore women and gender studies major.
This forum was a time that made people who thought that Fredonia wasn’t diversified to see that it actually is a diverse place of different cultures, races and heritages. It was also a reminder that being a diverse community isn’t just about the amount of black and Hispanic people on campus, but other cultures as well.
“Since I’ve been here there’s been diversity that has grown: Asian, Black, Latino and even women. We have to keep in mind that being black isn’t the only minority group,” said Tyra Henson, a senior English major.
The African American community isn’t just concerned about the discrimination and oppression imposed by other races or cultures; many are also upset about discrimination within their own community.
“We talk about race, but we also divide ourselves with this lightskin vs. darkskin debate affecting the young African American community,” said Kanard Lewis, a junior audio/radio major.
This wasn’t the only concern the students had with the school; they also had an issue with the faculty. Some students believed that it’s okay for a white professor to teach an African American class, but that they’ll never know the true struggles that the African American community faces.
Stewart believes that if someone does not see color then they are just disregarding basically everyone who isn’t a cis white male or female. She also emphasized that it is important to keep the understanding that there is a difference between the reality and fantasy in living a rural community being a person of color.
“There’s this facade of Fredonia that everything is great when sometimes it’s not. You can come to me for advice, but understand this: that I’ll give you the reality,” said Stewart
This forum was the stepping stone of change that is to come, first starting with Fredonia campus and with the hopes of the Fredonia community to follow suit.