Indiana Statesman For ISU students. About ISU students. By ISU students.
Indiana Statesman
Friday, Sept 29, 2017
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Volume 125, Issue 14
Anna Bartley | Indiana Statesman
Students gathered for the event, Black Thought, discussing racial issues and situations incuding the recent event at Mills hall.
Black Thought leads discussion regarding Mills Incident Jada N. Holmes Reporter
Tension arose throughout several Indiana State University communities this week with the surfacing of disheartening photographs of a potentially racially motivated instance in Mills Hall. On Tuesday, the Charles E. Brown African-American Cultural Center responded with what was intended to serve as an immediate healing and discussion space for many. Black Thought, a forum frequently hosted in the cultural center by Assistant Director Valerie A. HartCraig, drew the attention of numerous students, staff, faculty and surrounding community members. In such a critical moment of campus controversy, the questions presented by individuals desperate for reassurance and resolution were as equally abundant as the population. Placed at the anterior of the lower level and thus the core of the conversation were University representatives as follows: Dean of University College Linda Maule, Dean of Students Andy Morgan, Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence Leah Reynolds, Director of the Charles E. Brown African-American Cultural Center Brice Yates, Executive Director of Residential Life Amanda Knerr, Associate Director of Residential Life Ardell Sanders, Communication professors Lori Henson and Jennifer Mullen, Christopher Olsen and Student Government Association President Tanner Smith. The presidents of minority student organizations were also placed strategically at the front of the audience, with representation from Phi Beta Sigma, NAACP, Black Student Union, B.O.M.B., Omega Psi Phi, Bless The Mic, Sisters Too, Zeta Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Psi and various others. Reynolds, who had sent a mass email regarding the investigation and the objective of the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX, started the conversation. She assured the room that discrimination is not to be tolerated on this campus, and that efforts are continuously made to hold true to the university mission to remain persistent in upholding the value of inclusiveness, equity and diversity. Reynolds urged students to understand that investigation confidentiality must be acknowledged, respected and accepted during the diffusion processes. Students, grounded in emotional and logical discontentment, were not satisfied with the idea of such vital information being withheld, as it relates to the safety and wellbeing of the minority populations on campus. “How am I supposed to feel safe if I don’t know what happened?” was a question proposed.
The progression of the discussion revealed that this incident has not been the only racially motivated occurrence to take place this semester alone, and that authorities who have been notified have not approached these instances with the empathy, compassion, responsibility and awareness to combat them appropriately, especially Residence Life employees. Residential Life directors Knerr and Sanders stepped up to make students knowledgeable of the chain of command that they should report to about situations based on accessibility. Knerr spoke on the social justice educators that have been trained to confront problems of this caliber, especially as they occur in the dormitory halls. The presence of faculty and staff was a definite driving force in the transformation of a healing space into an informational and educational environment for faculty, student leadership and students to exchange both perspectives and resources. Henson and Mullen opened their arms to students who may be moved to utilize their professors as liaisons and classrooms as advocating platforms. Students seem to be unconfident and therefore reluctant to trust that these liaisons are genuinely appreciative of and invested in their causes and well-being at ISU. “I think we value deeply the opportunity to deal with real issues in the classroom. You are the best evaluators of whether your classroom is a safe place,” Maule said. Discussion proved to be intense as patrons lined up to confess their insights about issues they feel are relevant at ISU; one of those issues involved former senators in Student Government Association. Former African-American student senators briefly elaborated on what appeared to be discriminatory and inequitable practices within ISU’s student government association. Between the two former senators was senior Kayla Hogan, who has been unapologetic in her pursuit to enlighten many on the inconsistencies of this extensive student entity. Though SGA extends its hand as a liaison students can use to enforce change, Hogan feels that they have gradually strayed from serving students entirely. Hogan grew less attracted to the fact that the organization seemingly prioritizes structural adjustments and/or expansions over matters directly impacting Indiana State students. “When we had started the newer senate, and cabinet and all of that, I had dropped numbers saying that the minority within the senate was barely three percent. They took away what the textbook definition of diversity was,” Hogan said. Hogan stated that this observation was overridden with
“I think we value deeply the opportunity to deal with real issues in the classroom. You are the best evaluators of whether your classroom is a safe place,” -Dean Maule
Anna Bartley | Indiana Statesman
Dean Maule speaks infront of students, explaining the importance and value of dealing with real issues in and out of the classroom.
the notion that diversity is accounted for through variations in classification and fields of study within the senate, ultimately creating a sense of belittlement. This, to Hogan, manifested feelings alluding to a projected lack of respect for minority input. Wednesday evening the legislative branch of SGA held a meeting that was presented as a forum; no students beyond those who serve the entity were present. It had been suspected that former senators would arrive with the accompaniment of students to challenge the organization to inspire action relating to the Mills Hall incident. “It is not our place to take a stance until we have all of the facts. I will not be releasing a statement until I have all of the facts out of respect for all of those involved, as well as for the process while they’re going through that,” Smith said. It was suggested that more Town Hall meetings be held
SEE THOUGHT ON PAGE 5
Chinese police academy students discuss U.S. justice system at Indiana State Two faculty and 18 soon-to-be graduates from a police academy in Hangzhou, China, developed a global perspective of the criminal justice system at Indiana State University in August. The students, who were connected with Indiana State through the Center for Global Engagement, toured the university in order to learn about an American university and about graduate programs. “Many times we are so used to teaching concepts to domestic students who have a foundation and a conceptual understanding of the criminal justice system and policing, but when students from other cultures come in they have a very different understanding based on their own life experience,” said Zachariah Mathew, associate director for the Center for Global Engagement. “This kind of experience helps faculty understand international students and their needs when it comes to teaching and learning, and it helps us create a path to global awareness through a classroom subject.” A few weeks after Lisa Decker, an Indiana State associate professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice, returned from leading a group of students to Croa-
tia this summer, she was back on campus coordinating the department of criminology and criminal justice’s programming for Chinese police academy student. “This visit allowed us to introduce police academy students to Indiana State and our criminology program since they are in a similar program in China,” Decker said. Decker, who leads the criminology department’s trips to Croatia and London, highly encourages study abroad and said faculty-led trips offer non-experienced student travelers a valuable opportunity to get their feet wet with the guidance. “I’ve taken students abroad who have never been on a plane,” she said. “For a student to get on a plane and go to a country where the primary language isn’t English, it helps them build confidence and lets them know they can do anything. Yes, it’s a faculty-led experience but once they get out there and see that it is doable, the sky is the limit.” Chinese police academy students were in the second international group to take classes on campus over the summer. Such international visits open up Indiana State to a
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ISU Communications and Marketing
Indiana State University Associate Professor of Criminology Lisa Decker, far right, assists a group of international students from a Chinese police academy as they work in a criminology lab during their visit to Indiana State in August.