Vol 109 | Issue 1 | Sept. 2, 2020 | San Antonio, Texas
CULTIVATING DIVERSE REPRESENTATION POLINA PROTOZANOVA NEWS EDITOR
The Black Lives Matter protests have become historic throughout the past few months in their determination to battle racial injustice which has plagued America for the entirety of its history. Education and college campuses are a big part that history. Students must think critically in assessing their university’s action to fight social injustice—only a few decades ago, college campuses were openly using racial bias in admission. The Office of the President sent multiple updates concerning the university’s official stance on the unfolding national events, including an email with a prayer for “healing the wounds of racism” on June 1. Later that month, the campus community learned about the establishment of the new President’s Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which would promote an anti-racism dialogue on campus among
other things. Many students regularly reflect on racial justice in their university community. Hailey Stewart, the president of the Black Student Union, discussed her experiences at the university. “If I were to change anything about it, I would...include a more diverse administration. Unfortunately, a lot of the faces I see in the administration are white and it doesn’t reflect the student body,” Stewart said. At the same time, Stewart noted that she has been overall pleased with the administration’s response to this summer’s protests. “[St. Mary’s response] has been more thorough than other universities because there has been a lot of outreach from the administration to students about their personal feelings on the matter. So I have to praise them in that regard,” Stewart said. “For example, the Diversity and Equity board was completely student-led; it was a student
initiative and they [the administration] actually made one.” On the other side of the discussion, members of the recently formed—and not affiliated with student registered organizations on campus—Racial/Ethnic and Cultural Climate Subcommittee see a slightly different picture. “Another issue that I’ve seen is where we recruit from,” junior finance and risk management major, Mikayla Durham, said. “We recruit from the same areas and bringing in affluent kids from private schools that feed into the Marianist school system or from affluent areas of the Valley or San Antonio. With high schools and elementary schools in our backyard, on the Westside, we don’t do a good enough job of reaching into those lower-income demographics either. It really shows in all of our programs as well. While we are a diverse campus from a racial point of view, when you look deeper into it, we really aren’t.” Senior physics major, Jose Figueroa,
expressed frustration with the new President’s Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “I am extremely disappointed in the lack of students on that council. There is one undergrad and one graduate student. There is absolutely no way they are going to find out the problems around campus if they aren’t directly working with students,” Figueroa said. “I was just wondering if [President Mengler] would be willing to let students sit-in on those President’s Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion meetings and make it more like an open hall type of style, where we could be directly involved.” President Thomas Mengler recognizes the potential student concerns that the current national situation has brought up. “I think it’s a great suggestion that at some point the council or some small number of the council members, obviously beginning with the chair, that the group reaches out to CONTINUED ON PG. 2
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Students encourage tangible action
Mask Squad combats spread of COVID-19
City-wide food event offers tasty variety
Esports gamers prepare for inaugural season