Daily Egyptian THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SINCE 1916
VOL. 99 ISSUE 75
Jordan duncan | @jordanduncanDE
of the group, said the emergency fund is for students dealing with crises, which is important given the economy. “We don’t have enough conversations about the most at-risk students,” said Winstead, who is getting his doctorate in american studies at University of Maryland. “We don’t even have statistics about how many students are legitimately homeless... we all have a friend who is living on a friend’s couch that becomes a week, a month, a year. That person is homeless.” Former United States Sen. Roland Burris, class of 1959, was also present at the reunion. He said he created the Roland Burris Endowment Fund for black students in need from Centralia or Chicago, but is open to more students if none apply. “There are students living in poverty conditions and we are trying to uplift our whole race of people,” Burris said. “Those of us that have been fortunate enough to get a college education to compete in society in spite of racism, we have to make sure that our pipe line is still there.” Albert Reed, coordinator for the Black Affairs Council, said the fund was necessary and amazing. He said he looked over the fund before the announcement and gave input to the alumni before it was finalized. He said the original version of the fund with stricter criteria only accepted applicants who are in good standing with the university and have at least a 2.5 GPA, but his input allowed it to be lowered to a 2.0. “It’s a step to let it be known that there is help available regardless of your situation,” said Reed, a junior from Chicago studying radio and television. “That’s very, very important, especially among African American students.” President Randy Dunn said he was excited to see alumni group create the fund. “It’s desperately needed by so many students and this kind of last dollar support has been something we have been challenged to provide across the university for all types of students,” Dunn said. “The fact the [Black Alumni Group] has stepped up to address that on their own accord is very gratifying to see.”
Black alumni announce new fund amidst reunion The Black Alumni Group announced a new fund for black students in need Saturday, and was met with cheers from more than 1,000 students. Tim Tyler, president of the group, announced the BAG Student Emergency Fund before a step show, or a dance competition involving the use of one’s body as a percussive instrument, amid the group’s biennial reunion held this weekend. The reunion involved many events including a gala, a step show, a meeting with President Randy Dunn and his administration, a scholarship award ceremony and a school supply drop off for the Eurma C. Hayes Center, the Women’s Center and Hopewell Baptist Church. Tyler, of Chicago, said the fund is available for students in need in good academic standing with a 2.0 GPA. “If you have a death in the family and can’t get home, we can get you a train ticket,” he said. “If your lights are off, if you have an emergency, we are helping you.” Kevin Winstead, one of the vice presidents
J ordan d uncan | @jordanduncanDE Former Sen. Roland Burris, right, class of 1959, sifts through his book, “The Man Who Stood Up to Be Seated” with President Randy Dunn. Burris said he experienced racism when he attended SIU and wants the university to help protect students. “Black students couldn’t eat in restaurants downtown,” Burris said. “Had to sit in the balcony when they went to the movie. They couldn’t sit in a bar and drink a beer. They couldn’t sit in a bar and relax. There were four places where blacks could eat in those days.” Dunn attended a forum with the Black Alumni Group. “We want to make sure that everybody is representing the face of the university,” Dunn said Sunday. “Whether it’s an individual such as myself, the president and active chancellor, whether it’s our academic advisors, whether it’s our police, whether it’s our people on the front lines.”
“We don’t have enough conversations about the most atrisk students. We don’t even have statistics about how many students are legitimately homeless...” - Kevin Winstead vice president of the Black Alumni Group
Please see ALUMNI | 4
Dylann Roof charged with hate crime in Charleston church shooting TimoThy PhelPs | Tribune Washington Bureau The U.S. government announced Wednesday the indictment of 21-year-old Dylann Roof on federal hate crime charges, adding a civil rights dimension to the state murder charges already filed by South Carolina authorities in the June 17 killing of nine African-American worshippers in Charleston. A federal grand jury in Charleston indicted Roof on suspicion of using a weapon in a racially motivated hate crime and committing murder in an attempt to obstruct victims’ free exercise of their religious beliefs. The second charge carries the possibility of a federal death sentence, though it has been rarely invoked.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a news conference that no decision had been made on whether to seek the death penalty for Roof. But the new charges increase the likelihood that Roof might be prosecuted in federal, rather than state, court. Roof was previously charged with nine counts of murder in Charleston state court, where he also faces the death penalty. “To carry out [his] twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof ... decided to seek out and murder African-Americans because of their race,” Lynch said. “An essential element of his plan, however, was to find his victims inside of a church, specifically an African-American church, to ensure the greatest
notoriety and attention to his actions.” Authorities say Roof shot to death nine people during a Bible study class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Roof walked into the church carrying a Glock .45-caliber pistol with eight magazines loaded with hollow-point bullets, which are designed to do maximum damage. Because South Carolina has no hate crime law, victims’ families and fellow congregants at Emanuel AME had called for Roof’s purported racial motivation to be formally addressed by bringing federal charges against him. Lynch said it had not been decided who would prosecute Roof first. For now both cases will
proceed simultaneously, and the final decision will take into consideration the desire “to reduce any unnecessary burden on the families,” she said. In high-profile cases, it is not uncommon for federal prosecutors to bring their own charges. “The point of this is simply to be there as a backup in case something goes wrong with the state prosecution, but it is also a statement of our national extreme concern over the horrors of the crime,” said William Yeomans, an American University law professor and a former top civil rights official at the Justice Department. “It’s a strong statement that racially motivated violence will be dealt with harshly, not only by the state, but by the federal government.”