OGDEN – In black attire, black Weber State University students held a sometimes tearful, sometimes heated public meeting Thursday, exchanging stories of discrimination and demanding a change from the school administrators present.
The forum was organized by black student leaders across campus and was part of a movement called Black at Weber aimed at countering racial injustices that black students experience at the university.
“I speak for the students when I say that we don’t trust the government’s wisdom because we feel that personal harm has threatened our well-being intellectually, emotionally and physically,” said Jordan Stephens, one of the six black students at the sat on a podium at the event.
School officials in the audience included President Brad Mortensen, Vice President, Academic Affairs Ravi Krovi, Chief Diversity Officer Adrienne Andrews, and Vice President, Student Affairs Enrique Romo. Others watched over Zoom, and Student Union President Ben Ferney also took part in the discussion.
The conversation takes place as the university holds meetings to help students come through the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Stephens said it is encouraging that these meetings are taking place, but that the university needs action to back up what it says.
“There is a specific injustice that happens to black people when white supremacists are given space to work with the tools of the oppressor, with the understanding – this is corrupt – that free speech is granted for hate speech, and Weber State University must do speak of their attitudes on how to protect students from racial trauma that is permeated with rhetoric, ”he said.
Stephens was referring to the school’s response to racist stickers and flyers posted on campus two years ago. A week and a half after it was published, Mortensen issued a statement that said, “At Weber State, we strongly protect freedom of expression and the diversity of ideas. Even so, we are calling out racist and hateful speeches aimed at intimidating and scaring individuals and communities. “
As he spoke, Stephens also claimed that university cops laughed at students when they protested the Floyd killing last summer. Many students described specific cases of racism that they had experienced in school from teachers, staff, police officers, trainers and students.
Shawnica Sanders, the president of Black Scholars United, said she decided to join the group as a freshman after one of her professors compared how she jumped off a bed after giving birth to a slave who owned a plantation had left.
“Imagine how I felt as the only black student in class, not to mention that I’m a black woman,” Sanders said. “While the entire lecture and my professor were laughing, I wished I were invisible and hadn’t heard or witnessed such unpleasant events.”
Of the 24,105 students enrolled at Weber State this semester, 336 – approximately 1.4% – are black. And while school enrollment for most ethnic groups has generally increased over the past five years, the number of black students in Weber State has remained constant or has decreased, according to the state.
Students at the meeting said they knew other black students who had left school because of the racism they experienced and feelings of marginalization and isolation. Although organizations like the BSU and a new chapter of the NAACP instill a sense of community at the university, Sanders said the influence of these groups has been suppressed by the university.
Many of the allegations made at the forum were made at the Center for Multicultural Excellence. On its website, the center does not list the BSU or the NAACP as one of its area councils, “student-run organizations that advocate for minority groups by providing students with the opportunity to become inspirational leaders.” It does, however, become the African American Heritage Initiative listed.
Refusing to allow CME to rule the BSU, Sanders said that none of the organization’s students received the Byron-Warfield Graham Scholarship. The description of the scholarship states that BSU members are generally preferred. The BSU and NAACP were also rejected when they applied for funding from CME.
Another student on the jury, Terri Hughes, said there had been several cases of being at the CME with other black students and she felt repressed when they were told to “stay down” and they with ” deadly looks ”.
“We felt we didn’t have the space to be black,” she said. “When we asked about this room, when we asked about that sense of belonging, to get somewhere and fit in and be black and be black with no excuse, we were denied.”
When the group of students opened the floor for comment, Andrews stood up to defend the school, where they oversee diversity efforts before leaving early to have a talk about excessive violence with the Roy and Ogden Police Chiefs as well the Weber County Sheriff to moderate.
“I’m always ready to show up, do whatever I can, but I can support you,” she said. “And I see a shake of the head that says no, but I am ready to listen to what you think I am not doing when we have more time and help you see the things I do, even if you do are not the things that you think are most important right now. “
Andrews worked at Weber State for 16 years, she said. During this time, she told the students, Mortensen’s administration was most active in solving racial problems.
She then told the students why she had stayed at a university that “hasn’t had the change you would like to see here for so long” before being cut off by Nailah Mansa, one of the students who organized the event .
“With the greatest respect I would like to allow this space to be the way we designed it. This was an opportunity for black students to speak because every student here went to town halls and heard you speak, your colleagues heard administrators speak, and we never felt we were heard, “said Mansa.
After other black students, including two track and field athletes, shared their experiences at the school, panelist Demitrius Sanders listed a number of changes Black at Weber is demanding of the university.
This includes providing a black cultural center and making amends for damage caused by racism against black students. Sanders said these reparations could be financial, but would also include emotional health, physical health, and academic remedies such as helping students who failed class during racial trauma. Financial reparations would likely come in the form of grants, which he believed should be administered by a mostly black committee rather than the CME.
Black at Weber also wants the ethnic studies curriculum to become part of general study requirements and to recruit more black faculties and staff. “We want the removal, accountability and consequences for administrators, faculties and staff who have been involved in discriminatory, conspiratorial and illegal activities against black students,” said Sanders.
To this end, the group would like an internal audit and a review of the equity and inclusion policy as well as the budgets of the groups involved in this work, such as the CME.
Mortensen said he took notes on the students’ concerns and “we look forward to continuing to work on the issues discussed.”
Weber State adopted a new strategic plan in March – a practice that typically occurs every five years – that puts a greater emphasis on equity. Five equity-centered practices are listed, including “The recognition that eradicating structural racism in higher education requires an intentional critical deconstruction of structures, strategies, practices, norms and values that are viewed as racially neutral.”
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