Diversifying Rhodes: the Changes of the Last Nine Years
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The Vol. XCIV. NO. 17 Sou’wester Girl Talk and more come to Rhodes. April 2, 2008 Th e Weekly Student Newspaper of Rhodes College See Page 10 Diversifying Rhodes: The BSA attendance lacking By Avery Pribila and Daniel Jacobs Villa, President of HOLA, said of At the 2007 Kwanzaa celebra- the BSA events. “Th ey’re really well changes of the last nine years tion sponsored by the Black Student planned events but nobody comes. I By Daniel Jacobs and Matt at Rhodes. Task Force released their execu- Association (BSA) there was a spread don’t know if Rhodes students think McCulloch “When I talked to people one tive summary. Th e report focused of catered soul food, jugs of sweet tea, it’s exclusive to BSA but it’s not.” In the past nine years the thing that came up was diversity specifi cally on increasing racial and a band that led students in sing- Th is sentiment is echoed by Te- stance towards diversity at Rhodes and the lack thereof,” said Troutt. and ethnic diversity among stu- ing Kwanzaa songs. Students fi lled vari Butler, former President of BSA. has changed signifi cantly. In 1998 “If you listened to people they dents, faculty and administrative the room, eating and learning about a “I feel like at Rhodes we have a the college administration consid- were saying that we want to be a staff , and in particular increasing unique culture. lot of discussions about diversity,” said ered diversity a relatively low pri- stronger college, and it was clear the number of African Americans But, besides two exceptions, the Butler. “But when it comes to action ority. Today, while the college still to me that we needed to make di- at the school. At the time of the students in attendance were entirely everything falls off .” faces challenges, the administra- versity a college imperative.” report only 4% of the student black. Th e lack of diverse attendance tion has a number of initiatives to To investigate the situation, body was African American and According to Cord McLean, the at BSA events is especially stark be- increase diversity and engage the Troutt created the Diversity Task the faculty only had four African president of BSA, the group consis- cause the other three multicultural Memphis community. Force. Th e task force, which was Americans, while the housekeep- tently works to have a more diverse groups (All Students Interested in Asia A major factor in the change headed by Drompp, consisted of ing and grounds keeping staff was crowd at their events, but the Kwan- (ASIA), Th e Hispanic Organization is President William Troutt, who faculty, staff and students. 100% African American. zaa celebration is typical of most BSA for Language and Activities (HOLA), became president of the college in “Our charge was really to in- One of the fi ndings of the re- events. and the Rhodes Indian Cultural Ex- 1999. vestigate the barriers to diversity, port was that Rhodes’ problems “We publicize them just like any change (RICE)) tend to have a propor- “I would say the adminis- especially in terms of race,” said with diversity were based on the other group,” said McLean, who is a tionate representation of the campus at tration before Troutt didn’t pay Professor Anita Davis, who is the image of the college as an “elitist junior. “We have just as little connec- most of their events. much attention to issues of diver- head of the African-American institution” and the inertia cre- tion with the Kwanzaa celebration as “I would say turnout is rather sity,” said History Professor Mi- studies department and served as ated by “years of inactivity” which other students on campus, and we’re diverse,” said Susan Wang, the Presi- chael Drompp. “I think faculty a member of the task force. “Part prevented serious change. learning just like they would be.” dent of ASIA. “Our executive board is and students had cared about di- of our approach was to really talk Finally, the report made a se- McLean said that of the BSA more than just Asian. Th e majority of versity but I don’t think there was to diff erent groups of people. It al- ries of recommendations, several events he has attended, the 2006 Fall the offi cers are Asian but we do invite any directive from the higher ad- lowed us to begin a campus-wide of which have been implemented, Ball was the most diverse in terms of students who are interested in Asian ministration.” conversation, and it uncovered a including the creation a full-time attendance by white students. He es- culture. It’s inclusive rather than ex- One of Troutt’s fi rst major lot of concerns.” position in the Offi ce of Admis- timated that there were ten white stu- clusive.” initiatives was improving diversity In June 2000 the Diversity sions that focused on recruiting dents and about 100 black students at Wang also described how ASIA minority students, hiring a chair the event. White students make up tends to “Americanize” their events, 86% of the student population, while because she thinks delving deeper into Diversity, continued on Page 4 black students make up only 6%. Sexuality and the Church “Nobody comes,” said Diana Events, continued on Page 4 By William Bruce Racial diversity in the classroom Executive Assistant By Daniel Jacobs room at Rhodes. Minority mem- “It’s an area a lot of people On March 31, Tim Meadows, an Editor-in-Chief bers of classes often feel a pressure wish not to go into,” said Reg- openly gay preacher in the Memphis Th e students of the political to speak up, while many white gie Watson, a senior internation- area, recently visited campus to deliver a science course were discussing students are afraid of saying the al business major who is black. lecture in which he discussed his life and welfare when the professor turned wrong thing. “Th ere is a general politeness.” relationship with the Christian church. to the class and asked what image Religious Studies Professor But other students believe Many Christians believe the bible con- comes to mind when they think of Luther Ivory, who teaches a num- there is less discomfort among demns homosexuality and as a result many a welfare recipient. ber of classes on African-American their fellow students on the issue gay people have a poor relationship with Th at’s when the silence start- issues, including African-Ameri- of race. church. Meadows discussed that over ed. can Th eology and a class on mod- “When it’s necessary to talk time he began to realize that the Bible is “It could have been because ern civil rights, leads discussions about people feel pretty comfort- a complex work and that the texts weren’t they wanted to be politically cor- on race in most of his classes. able,” said Tammy Harris, a senior William Bruce/The Sou’wester necessarily by God, but rather by ancients Tim Meadow rect or maybe they were thinking “Th e comfort zones of the English major who is black. “Be- that had cultural infl uences. In addition, about their grocery list at the mo- students is very narrow when they cause it’s a fact of our society, it’s he delivered his conclusion that Jesus was ment,” said Diana Villa, a sopho- walk in there,” said Ivory. “And something we have to talk about.” a man that did not discriminate against people based on who they more who is Hispanic, who was when the buzzword of race is in- On the other hand, while were, but rather showed love to all the people that he spent his life in the class at the time. “Look- troduced the comfort zones nar- many white students are hesitant trying to save. ing back, I suppose I felt a bit re- row even further.” to discuss race, minority students Following the lecture an intense discussion ensued. Some mem- sponsible, as a minority, to answer Jim Kingman, a junior Eng- sometimes feel pressured to talk bers of the audience supported Meadows while others expressed con- ‘seventeen year old minority girl’ lish major who is white, also during discussions. tempt at the idea of being a devout homosexual. to show that it was alright to ac- thinks that students have trouble “We have upperclassmen talk “Th is was a diffi cult discussion but I felt it was handled well,” knowledge the perceptions.” discussing race. to underclassmen and they say said Joe Renteria, a senior. “Diffi cult discussions are what Rhodes is “I said it because I didn’t want “I think people feel uncom- sometimes when there is a discus- all about.” anyone to not say it because I was fortable talking about race in ra- sion in class there is this pressure “I felt it was healthy dialogue between two opposing groups on in that class,” said Villa, who is cially mixed company. At least to speak for your race, or your campus,” said Mikkel Quam, the co-president of Gay Straight Alli- also the president of HOLA. students at this college do,” said people and that’s a lot of pressure,” ance. “Th ere were confl icts but it was progressive and respectful.” Th is incident illustrates one Kingman. said Cynthia Polk-Johnson, the of the many diffi culties students Other students mirror this face in discussing race in the class- opinion. Classroom, continued on Page 4 Page 2 Opinion Wednesday, April 2, 2008 The Letter to the Sou’wester Editor Earlier this week I wrote a letter to the administration regarding the lack of programming and administrative recognition toward Editor-In-Chief honoring Dr.