2008 Woodie Awards
BAS should include all students to be diverse
Issue date: 3/4/05 Section: Rocket Letters
To the Editor:
This letter is in regards to the Black Action Society's complaint of SRU students not supporting them as greatly as other SRU organizations and events. BAS expects patronage from a campus whose majority it excludes from their union. Minorities have strived for equality for a very long time (and still do today).
The few Caucasian students I have spoken to said that they do not feel welcomed when they are at a BAS sponsored event because the sense of being the minority is overwhelming. I understand feeling overwhelmed may be because a lot of our students are from small areas and have not been exposed very much to diversity. It is up to the BAS to make them feel welcomed or else, stop complaining about low attendance.
Also, Retention Services provides a similar service without discriminating against any of the population. We all know that if there was an organization with all Caucasian students on this campus that excluded the company of minorities they would be called the KKK. Therefore, integrating our community is essential to helping us coexist.
Furthermore, I understand that minorities on this campus have to deal with being sparse; I am a minority. I believe BAS is a vital organization on this campus for students who may be uncomfortable or feel out of place initially.
However, it is absurd to believe that we will feel more comfortable by joining a club that segregates us from the rest of the SRU community. On the BAS Web page linked from the SRU Web site, it is said "The Black Action Society will...implore our members to foster better racial relations and cultural harmony within the university." I would like to know how they plan to do this without even attempting to provide a diverse atmosphere for minority students. In the dinning halls, the African American students appear to be confined to one particular station, the International students to another and the Caucasian students everywhere else with the exception of a few mixed groups.
This letter is in regards to the Black Action Society's complaint of SRU students not supporting them as greatly as other SRU organizations and events. BAS expects patronage from a campus whose majority it excludes from their union. Minorities have strived for equality for a very long time (and still do today).
The few Caucasian students I have spoken to said that they do not feel welcomed when they are at a BAS sponsored event because the sense of being the minority is overwhelming. I understand feeling overwhelmed may be because a lot of our students are from small areas and have not been exposed very much to diversity. It is up to the BAS to make them feel welcomed or else, stop complaining about low attendance.
Also, Retention Services provides a similar service without discriminating against any of the population. We all know that if there was an organization with all Caucasian students on this campus that excluded the company of minorities they would be called the KKK. Therefore, integrating our community is essential to helping us coexist.
Furthermore, I understand that minorities on this campus have to deal with being sparse; I am a minority. I believe BAS is a vital organization on this campus for students who may be uncomfortable or feel out of place initially.
However, it is absurd to believe that we will feel more comfortable by joining a club that segregates us from the rest of the SRU community. On the BAS Web page linked from the SRU Web site, it is said "The Black Action Society will...implore our members to foster better racial relations and cultural harmony within the university." I would like to know how they plan to do this without even attempting to provide a diverse atmosphere for minority students. In the dinning halls, the African American students appear to be confined to one particular station, the International students to another and the Caucasian students everywhere else with the exception of a few mixed groups.
