By EMILY PAOLICELLI
Co-Executive Editor
Students at The College of Saint Rose were invited in a mass email to a meeting via Zoom that took place on June 26. This meeting was called as a follow-up conversation to the Planning for Action Tomorrow meeting, which took place on June 10, and in response to the creation of @blackatstrose, an Instagram account that posts submissions from Black students who want to anonymously detail their experiences with racism on the Saint Rose campus.
The meeting was facilitated by Cherèva McClellan, director of Student Life and coordinator of Family Relations, and George Lopez, assistant director of Student Success and Engagement, and was attended by up to 120 people, including Interim President Marcia White; Provost Steve Ralston; Provost Margaret McClain; Shai Butler, vice president for Student Development and Chief Diversity Officer; the deans of all four schools; and students, faculty, alumni, and parents alike.
Following an introduction from McClellan, Lopez, Butler, and the four deans, President White began the meeting with a speech expressing her dissatisfaction with the current state of the college, and committing to implementing changes during her presidency to combat racism and injustice on campus.
Some actions that White promised include a bias response team, which may involve mandatory reporting protocols for incidences of bias and prejudice akin to those currently in place for Title IX; a director of diversity and inclusion; a revamped hiring process that more heavily involves students and requires a diverse pool of applicants. White promised students these changes by the start of the fall semester.
In addition, Ralston identified two actions that are being taken immediately. The first action will involve meeting with any faculty that was named on the @blackatstrose Instagram account, and the second will involve the four deans meeting with the departments that were mentioned on the Instagram account to discuss change and action moving forward.
Butler provided an overview of previous actions taken to combat racism at Saint Rose, including a task force of 12 students, seven faculty, and 17 administrators and staff. The task force met nine times over the Spring 2019 semester, according to Butler, and produced 77 recommendations, with 27 focused on race and ethnicity. However, some students, including students who were part of the task force, mentioned that issues were discussed “over and over,” with no tangible outcomes.
Students demanded transparency and communication while the administration implements these proposed solutions, with many claiming that they were never made aware of any of the previous actions that Butler had mentioned in their time at Saint Rose. Administrators and faculty said they were aware that reaching students through email may not be an effective mode of communication. In turn, it was suggested that the RAVE Emergency alert system, a system in which alerts can be sent directly to students’ cell phones, be used for important information regarding issues of diversity and inclusion.
Students requested an increase in [advertisement] for resources to turn to on campus to report incidents of racism and prejudice. Current forms were shared in the Zoom chat function, but students called for ways to report that would guarantee anonymity and amnesty, and a way for a group of students to report, as the current form only allows for an individual to report. The form can be found here. (https://www.strose.edu/student-development/policies-important-info/bias-complaint-form/)
Students demanded more student involvement on any and all diversity task forces, pointing out that there is already an intercultural council of students at Saint Rose that have not been involved in any previous action. They also noted that student organizations that exist to serve students of color on the Saint Rose campus, like Spectrum and the Black Student Union, have difficulty in receiving funding and other support to provide the programming that they would like to have.
Alumni offered their allyship to current students, calling for other alumni to increase communication with and availability to the Saint Rose community so current students can have another resource to turn to for support.
Though the meeting was slated to occur from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., students and alumni continued to voice their concerns both vocally in the call and in the Zoom chat function until almost 1:40 p.m., nearly doubling the meeting time. Many students and some faculty members expressed outrage at the short time allotted for such an important conversation, and demanded follow-up meetings in the future that are facilitated by students, not administrators or faculty, and for there to be more openness and honesty than structure and moderation in future conversations. They also suggested that faculty members be invited or mandated to attend any future meetings.
Read about the June 10 meeting here. (http://www.strosechronicle.com/fresh/saint-rose-community-plans-action-for-tomorrow/)
