Only a few months old, the minority student advocacy program has already generated arguments among Uni students about the best way to approach the issue of diversity. What lies ahead for both the program and the school?

By Maddy Hamlin & Bianca Zaharescu
Gargoyle staff reporter & senior editor
Posted Friday, Nov. 17, 2006, The OG, news

[Note: For Part 1 of this story, click here. For Part 2, click here.]

THE MAJOR QUESTION that remains for Uni's new minority student advocacy program is how to go about achieving the group's goals in the best possible way. Minority student advocates Liz Reese and Sharajonnie Adams aren't the only Uni students who want the school to become more diverse.

“I think really that there is a need for better diversity or someone to kind of deal with Uni's diversity issues,” senior Emily Kamm pointed out. “But I think the way that this program seems to be working out is not ideal.”

“I think that part of the problem with this program is too many objectives,” commented a student who emphasized her admiration for the overall goals of the program. “To try and have only one minority group [the MSA group] that would encompass all of these objectives is just ludicrous.”

Another student remarked, “As a self-identified white person I feel like, well, what am I supposed to do if I care about equality or learning about cultures and then, if I say anything am I called racist?”

Much of the lingering discontent with the MSA program goes back to the debate over who is a minority: Who should be included and excluded?

“Every group and every culture has a long history and a proud history that they should want to share,” Kamm said. “By excluding people … they're not reaching out with they're specific and valuable contributions as much as they could be.”

Many students believe that focusing on community outreach to minority students should be the major thrust of the program.

“I really admire that the MSAs are trying to get people from an early age not only qualified enough but to feel comfortable enough to apply here,” senior Dana Al-Qadi said. “I think it's really great.”

Said Kamm: “I just thought you can't solve racial division with more racial division. Still, it's worthwhile to see where it leads.”

Another senior commented: “I think it's fabulous to get kids involved in recruitment of minorities, but I think there should be a little teamwork among different races, because there isn't too much discrimination that I can see at Uni, so to demonstrate that in a well-rounded way I think we should have as many perspectives as possible to make that as strong an argument as possible.”

Guidance counselor Sam Smith, who supervises Reese and Adams on their MSA independent study, explained that there is indeed a way for each individual to contribute.

“What people of color find, and progressive white people find, is that it is very important that we learn how to develop coalitions and work together on common goals, but also that we learn how to work on each other's behalf,” he said, “especially those of you who are progressive and who have a different vision for how the world should be. What you are going to find is that there are going to be times that you are called to work on behalf of another community which may not necessarily be your community.”

Adams and Reese have stressed that they are learning by experimentation and developing the program as they work.

“This is where we're starting,” Adams said. “We're not intending to cut it off here; there's going to be more.”

Director/Principal Kassie Patton, who has supported the MSA program ever since Reese came to her last year with the original proposal, volunteered her vision for the future of the program.

“One of the goals is for them to help develop the leadership of young students,” she said. “Part of what they're supposed to be doing is mentoring the younger students so that they're ready to take the leadership position, too.”

The MSAs agree that they want the program to continue after their graduation.

“If it doesn't go anywhere, it's because people didn't try to make it go anywhere,” Adams said. “We want them [minority students in the local community] to feel like, ‘You can come here. You can get a good education. You can go to a great college and be successful and still have people who are like you around.' It's about comfort, helping people be successful.”

Despite the ongoing backlash that this program has faced in its early stages, Adams and Reese remain positive as to its outlook and are steady in their beliefs.

“I think it has the potential to be a good thing,” Adams said. “Like everything that starts out with a good cause, you're always going to have people who are against you. … What you have to do is just get past that and still succeed. And that's what we're doing.”