Change is Underway

Change is Underway

Vol 23 | 1 | 2.23.21

Table of Contents 04 When the Show is Over 06 False Start 10 Art Feature 12 Thin Blue Line 16 The Next Chapter 20 Pandemic Discrimination Editor-in-Chief: Colby Guy Managing Editor: Kendall Little News Editor: Natalia Ribeiro Features Editor: Darlene Antoine Sports Editor: Richard Pereira Web Editor: Marcy Wilder

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Creative Director: Michelle Rodriguez-Gonzalez Photo Editor: Eston Parker III Entertainment Editor: Elliot Rodriguez Business Manager: Joseph Acosta Copy Desk Chief: Gillian Manning

Designers: Emily Meilands J.R. Pfeiffer

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tter e L ’s By: Colby Guy | Editor-in-Chief

You have heard the same words come out of President John Kelly’s mouth about a million times now, “FAU is the most diverse school in Florida.” He repeats it endlessly, but the real question is: What are they doing to support their diverse community?

FAU hasn’t been supporting their student body no matter how much they shove it down our throats every chance they get.

As you’re about to see from this issue, there are a lot of obstacles that the university’s diverse community has to go through that the average white student here doesn’t.

While you read, take all of the experiences shared into account and ask yourself if more can be done to support these students and what action can be taken to do so.

FAU’s students and faculty need to do what they can to hold the school accountable. After the botched situation with Ryan Richards, who wasn’t punished after saying the n-word in a video, and the countless other mismanaged opportunities to defend their student body, it is time to collectively ask the institution for more.

Want to get involved?

Contact: Marcy Wilder | Web Editor Email: mwilder2019@fau.edu General meetings every Thursday at 6 p.m. via Zoom Want to place an ad? For national/regional ads contact: Leen Obeidat flytedesk inc (970) 541-0894 | leen@flytedesk.com

Publisher: FAU Student Government. The opinions expressed by the UP are not necessarily those of the student body, student government, or FAU. Sign up for Catching you UP! University Press’s official newsletter catching you up with all things FAU! Cover Art by: Michelle Rodriguez-Gonzalez

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Feature

When the Show is Over

By: Elliot Rodriguez | Entertainment Editor

The Black Undergraduate Theatre Collective allows marginalized students an opportunity to meet like-minded people.

The five founders of the Black Undergraduate Theatre Collective, (Left to Right) Gabieh Rodrigues, TJ Pursley, Corey Rose, Jayla Thompson, Isaiah Cowan. Photo courtesy of Corey Rose.

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In a predominantly white industry, a group of students have taken it upon themselves to break down the color barrier in the FAU theatre community. The Black Undergraduate Theatre Collective (BUTC) offers a safe place where these marginalized students can find their voice and exceed in the art of theatre.

In recent months, students have levied claims against the department that include unfair casting and shoddy treatment within the Department of Theatre and Dance.

In response, the department has held forums where the campus community had an opportunity to make the department aware of any issues and discuss ways to address them.

University staff held the first forum remotely in June of last year, and the department — which has created a diversity committee to discuss racial inequalities — intends to have others in the future.

One of the issues mentioned in the first forum dealt with the curriculum.

Since the standard curriculum does not spend much time reviewing Black playwrights, the Collective makes a point to educate students on influencers such as Lorraine Hansberry, Nina Simone, August Wilson, and others of historical significance. “The Collective brings out historic Black influences to the limelight,” founding president Corey Rose said.

All full-time faculty in the theatre department are white, and department chairperson Thomas Shorrock recognizes the dilemma.

“This can lead to a disconnect for our students, as we recognize they may not have a Black or Brown mentor,” he said. “As a department, we have faced retention and recruitment challenges to develop [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] faculty.”

“It bleeds into what they teach because of the faculty’s lack of awareness,” Pursley said.

The lack of diversity in the department has direct consequences for Black students, who find themselves facing an inconvenience as it relates to their hair. “Hair has been the reason that someone has not gotten a part,” Thompson said.

“Usually if a student of color is cast and needs to change their hair in a short amount of time, they have to go find their own stylist and pay out of pocket instead of getting it done for free from the hair and make-up department,” Pursley said.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Showcase, which occurs during finals week every semester, is a chance for students to show their progress as an artist. The faculty grade students based on performance and appearance, and students say multiple Black students have been docked points by the judges because of their hair.

“The curriculum in the theatre [department] is being whitewashed,” said founding vice president Jayla Thompson. “Theatre is a lot more diverse than FAU showcases.”

“I’m not aware of anyone being denied a role due to their hair... I honestly don’t believe I’ve ever docked a Black student for their hair – and if I have, I apologize that I don’t remember it; I’m sure I’ve docked at least a couple of white students for not combing theirs,” theatre professor Kathryn Johnston said.

Students are only now starting to see some changes. “They’re certainly making efforts now to fix these things in the curriculum, but it was difficult to get them to do it,” founding treasurer TJ Pursley said.

For the students of the BUTC, theatre is a way to express oneself and shed light on important topics, but theatre students believe that their department does not represent the needs of its diverse student body.

Rose said plays they were able to put on such as “The Ballot or the Bullet” on Feb. 21, 2020, as well as “Collage Night” on Sept.

4, 2020, have helped raise awareness about issues going on in the world, such as racial injustice and inequality.

“Life and art are supposed to imitate [each other],” said Pursley.

“Theatre has a great way of making people aware of problems,” said Pursley.

COVID-19 did not necessarily complicate the process of making more people aware of racial injustice in the campus community.

Pursley claims the group expanded, since circumstances have given people with busy schedules a chance to be more involved.

“A big part of the Collective is to make theatre available for everyone,” he said.

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Featured BUTC members from Collage Night.

Opinion

False Start: How College Football Lets their Black Coaches Down By: Joseph Acosta | Business Manager

No matter how good they coach, Black coaches can’t outperform racism.

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Willie Taggart at the Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 21, 2019. He was named as the Owls’ new head football coach three days prior.

Despite the state of Florida being one of the most diverse states in the USA , historically there’s been a lack of full-time Black coaches at every Division one FBS school that isn’t an HBCU (Data via Sports Reference).

When FAU announced Willie Taggart as the next head coach of the Florida Atlantic Football team in December of 2019, he stepped into a territory that nobody that looked like him had ever been in. Taggart became the first Black coach in program history, a history that stretched back to 2001 when Howard Schnellenberger coached the Owls.

However, when you examine how many Black head coaches there are at the Division One FBS level of college football, it reveals an unsurprising trend. At the end of 2020, there were only 13 full-time Black college football head coaches at the Division One level, out of 130 Division One FBS football programs. That lines up to be 10 percent of coaches. This isn’t just a recent trend, Black coaches have been getting shut out of the head coaching office for years. Among the Division One FBS schools in the state of Florida, there has been only one full-time Black Head Coach at four of these schools, and Willie Taggart was the first and only for three of them.

I’ll get to why these disparities exist later, but the main reason there are only 13 Black head-coaches is simple.

“Those who are making the hiring decisions have to start pulling the trigger on [hiring] Black coaches,” said the host of the Split Zone Duo college football podcast Richard Johnson. “We can talk about pipelines until we’re blue in the face, but this industry has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” he added.

Now the question becomes, “Why aren’t decision-makers hiring Black coaches,” yet the answer is very simple.

White people tend to hire other people that look like them; that’s what makes them comfortable. In a 2018 study published by Psychology Today, findings suggested that over 75 percent of white and Asian people have some sort of implicit bias. These implicit biases can cause fear and tribalism, and lead people to associate negative connotations with African-Americans. Take me, for example. I’m a large Black male. When I’m walking down the street, white people are going to think negatively of me.

That’s implicit bias rooted in racism.

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Now let’s translate this into modern times. According to the NCAA Database, in the year 2019, there were only 16 Black Athletic Directors (AD) in the Power Five Conferences out of 64. In non-Power Five Conferences, that number shrinks to four out of 67 positions.

This means that the people making the hiring decisions are white, therefore they will continue to hire people that look like them. However, these people in positions of power don’t reflect the people that are on the field putting their bodies on the line.

Even as the college football landscape begins to modernize and go for more “out of the box” hires, athletics administrators still pass over Black coaches. Johnson expanded on that as well. “Two of the most successful coaches of all time began as wide receivers coaches[Urban Meyer and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney]. Swinney was an internal promotion at Clemson. So they can think outside the box with these hires when they want to,” he said.

In the same year (2019), Black student-athletes comprised 46% of the student-athlete population at Power Five schools. In non-P5’s the number jumps to 52%. The diversity on the field doesn’t reflect the diversity within the offices, and that comes back to the people doing the hiring. Whether it be the ADs themselves, or independent search firms that are predominantly white, Black coaches are rarely even given a foot in the door due to the implicit biases described above.

These “outside-the-box” hires were all over college football this hiring cycle. Of the 15 job openings in Division One FBS football, only Charles Huff ended up with a head coaching job( Marshall). Among the hires were a former QB coach for the New England Patriots ( Jedd Fisch, Arizona), and a former graduate assistant at Clemson who happens to be the son of a legendary college football coach (Terry Bowden, UL-Monroe). These out-of-the-box hires seem to only get white coaches because they’re more likely to get the benefit of the doubt. Meaning, if these white hires don’t succeed initially, they’ll get more than a year and a half to keep their job (see: Scott Frost at Nebraska).

In the world of football, these biases weren’t only overt, they were also extremely racist. The quarterback position was always juxtaposed with being a “thinking man’s” position, and that rhetoric was used to block Black players from playing the position. This translated into the coaching profession, as the assumption became that Black people weren’t smart enough to hold leadership positions, and would be passed over repeatedly by their white counterparts. Due to this, former Black football players would all be placed at positions like a defensive back coach, or running back coach.

This is a concept called “racial stacking,” a phenomenon that has been around in football since professors D. Stanley Eitzen and David C. Sanford wrote about it in 1975. Eitzen and Sanford wrote that in the NFL in 1971, Black people made up 40% of the league.

However, less than 10% of these players played quarterback, center, or linebacker. Johnson wrote about racial stacking among college football in 2017 for Banner Society. “When a Black player gets to a higher level of football, he gets out of the essential positions (quarterback, center, middle linebacker, safety) because those were, so to speak, thinking man’s positions. So when a Black player comes in and moves from quarterback to wide receiver, you take a future coach out of the pipeline.”

Johnson also added that it’s rare to find a coach that didn’t play the position he coached, but that could happen. Willie Taggart is one such case. He was a record-setting QB at Western Kentucky in the mid-to-late ’90s, then moved to wide receiver’s coach at WKU before becoming offensive coordinator there. Before becoming a head coach, he was the running backs coach at Stanford. However, those are rare occasions and not the trend.

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Willie Taggart and former defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt coach from the sideline on Oct. 31, 2020. The Owls defeated University of Texas at San Antonio 24-3.

Willie Taggart talks to his players during a time out on Oct. 3, 2020. The Owls defeated the Charlotte 49ers 21-17.

So, what can Black coaches do to break through and get more of these jobs? The short answer is, not much. One positive trend is the foundation of The National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches (NCMFC) . The NCMFC, founded by Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, was formed in 2020 and focuses on “preparing, producing, and promoting” minority football coaches at every level, according to their website. In the section labeled, “Our Path to Success,” it says that the coalition will, “remove the roadblocks and level the playing field for minority football coaches.”

But here’s the thing: It shouldn’t have to take a coalition of Black coaches and the most powerful coach in college football history to level the playing field. It shouldn’t have to take articles written every summer by journalists who see these problems from the outside. The responsibility should be on the people in power. The athletic directors and the search firms, their biases, whether they be implicitly or explicitly racist, have to be changed by themselves. “The decision-makers’ hearts and minds have to be changed,” Johnson said, and I completely agree.

More Black coaches will come into the pipeline, and more Black coaches will be qualified to receive these jobs. But until the implicit biases of the decision-makers change, one thing will be certain in college football: If you’re a Black coach, you can’t out-scheme racism.

Photos Courtesy of Alex Liscio

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Art Feature Michelle Rodriguez-Gonzalez | Creative Director

While thinking of and creating a piece for this issue, I wanted to highlight an important era where disparities between race and ethnicity became the forefront of our political conversations. I wanted to highlight moments from several different protests and combine them into a larger image to show unity within different communities under a common goal. The use of lighter color is supposed to continue to unify the visual composition and create a feeling of togetherness.

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Feature

THIN BLUE LINE By: Joseph Acosta | Business Manager

There were ten complaints filed against the FAUPD in the 2019-2020 school year. What does this mean, and what can students do?

The FAU Police Department has had their share of complaints and compliments filed to their office. In the 2019-2020 school year, the campus community filed ten complaints against their officers alleging issues from unprofessionalism to sexual harassment and racial profiling.

Blue Lives Matter is a countermovement to Black Lives Matter that supports police officers in the US, often to attack Black Lives Matter. Supporters of the Blue Lives Matter see the police as the “thin blue line” between the community they protect and lawlessness.

Complaints and Compliments Of the ten complaints, police found seven complaints unfounded by internal investigations done by the department, meaning police deemed there weren’t enough facts or evidence necessary to continue with the investigation.

One such case involved an officer who was accused of racial profiling and making an unlawful arrest. This incident was determined to be “dating violence” and no unethical behavior or racial profiling was found. In a case from October of 2019, an officer “adjusted his belt while staring at a female employee” according to the complaint. The officer later retired for what the university called medical reasons, according to records obtained by the University Press via a public records request.

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There was one sustained complaint, which meant that the complaint would be upheld and an investigation would take place. An officer was not wearing his Body-Worn Camera (BWC) when investigating a complaint on a bus used to transport students to Universal Studios in April 2020. According to the report, the officer was later counseled by the department for not activating said camera.

Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and former officer in the Tallahassee Police Department, said in an email that the use of body cameras hasn’t severely affected the day-to-day workings of an officer.

“They have one more piece of equipment that they need to keep charged (like their radios and flashlights). They need to remember to turn it on and off, and to upload and log the videos. These are relatively minor, mostly administrative changes,” Stoughton said.

Illustration by: J.R. Pfeiffer Stoughton did note that how officers go about their jobs is a “complicated” answer. “BWCs have different effects at different agencies, because each agency is different. A well-run agency that has a well-trained, well-supervised workforce isn’t going to see as much improvement as a less well-run agency because there is simply less room for marginal improvement,” he said.

According to FAUPD Police Chief Sean Brammer, all university officers should turn on their body cameras “as soon as they step out of their vehicle.” Officers began wearing body cameras in 2015, but professors at the university’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice helped develop the existing policy with Chief Brammer when he was officially promoted to chief in 2017 (he served as interim chief in 2016).

“Accountability is predicated on being able to identify what an agency is doing well and where it needs to improve.”

Brammer said that if an officer doesn’t have their camera on, they are subject to internal discipline and have violated department policy. However, Brammer said that cases involving the Health Portability and Accountability Act, a law meant to discourage the disclosure of sensitive health to the public, are different. If HIPAA is involved, then officers use alternate methods to accurately get statements from victims.

FAU Police Chief Sean Brammer looks on as students protest racial inequality in September 2020. Photo by Alex Liscio.

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“[Officers] will have a handwritten or a voice recorded statement taken from the victim, so that we can have their statement documented as to what happened during the incident, just for privacy rights,” Brammer said.

If anyone would like to file a complaint, the police department has a form to do so on their website. People are also free to walk into the department and a supervisor will file a complaint on their behalf.

The FAUPD handles all complaints sent accusing the department of wrongdoing, Brammer said. In an amendment to the Florida Officers’ Bill of Rights Law, a document used to ensure certain rights for officers and law enforcement, external agencies can handle investigations if the police department requests it. “If I feel that there’s a situation where we need other transparency, then I’ll bring in an external agency for them to investigate,” said Brammer.

When a complaint hits his desk, Brammer decides whether there will be an internal investigation, or if the office will go through what is called a “preliminary inquiry,” which determines the nature of the complaint.

FAUPD Thin Blue Line Policy In Nov. 2020, a Twitter account representing the university’s police department posted photos of officers participating in “No Shave November” on Twitter, to raise awareness for cancer patients who lose their hair in the treatment process.

In these photos, police sergeant Michael Marzigliano wore a Blue Lives Matter flag on his uniform.

Chief Brammer said that while his department does not have a policy against wearing Blue Lives Matter memorabilia, there are “restrictive policies” on what officers can wear on their uniforms.

“We don’t allow anything outside of the uniform that we give for officers to wear on their uniforms,” he said.

In the state of Florida, there have been many cases of the Blue Lives Matter flag causing controversy. Last summer, the New Port Richey’s Homeowners Association told a former sheriff ’s deputy in Orlando to remove a Blue Lives Matter flag from his property.

Last June, Sheriff ’s Capt. Ryan Brown banned Sarasota County deputies from wearing Blue Lives Matter memorabilia while on duty, citing, “unique times,” and “always maintaining professionalism.”

When asked about the perception of the “thin blue line,” Chief Brammer said that to police properly, there is no room for the “us vs. them mentality” that the flag and mantra have come to hold. “It’s all about inclusion,” he said.

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FAU Police Sgt. Michael Marzigliano wore a Blue Lives Matter Flag on his uniform, in a photo posted on Dec. 2, 2020 by the FAUPD.

What Can Students do?

Stoughton said that one of the ways students can hold their campus police department accountable is to understand the structure of their campus police agency, and to get information about what the agency is doing. “Accountability is predicated on being able to identify what an agency is doing well and where it needs to improve. This requires transparency,” Stoughton said. He also added that students and faculty should provide community feedback to their agency as well.

Adam Dobrin, a criminology professor in FAU’s College of Criminal Justice, believes that students should pay attention to more than one side of the story, when it comes to media portrayal. “A lot of media portrayal in some of these events is limited, and when the full video comes out, it’s not quite the story the media is presenting,” Dobrin said.

Dobrin’s best suggestion, however, is for students to become volunteers in the police department. “If you really want to affect change, step into the arena yourself,” he said. “Be a bridge between the community and the police.”

How to get Involved?

Rape Aggression Defense

R.A.D. R.A.D. is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques for women. The R.A.D. System is a comprehensive, women-only course that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance, while progressing on to the basics of hands-on defense training.

Ride-Along Request

“Be a bridge between the community and the police.” Adam Dobrin

All requests for ride-alongs must be approved by the Commander of Road Patrol Operations. Ride-Along request forms are available in person at the University Police Department and online.

Police Report Request There are a number of ways to make a public records request for any incident that is not related to a traffic crash. Request are accepted via phone, fax, email, and by mail.

Your request will be handled in the order in which it is received, and as promptly as possible. We kindly ask that you fill out the Public Records Request Form provided below when submitting a request.

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Feature

The Next Chapter: Diversity Q&A By: Darlene Antoine | Features Editor

FAU Greek Chapters condemn racism and celebrate inclusivity both on and off-campus.

Activists permeated the summer of 2020 with protests, social justice efforts, trending hashtags, and campaigns to end police brutality. FAU Greek chapter leaders heard the outcry of rallying students who marched along campus halls and highways to demand change at FAU and across the nation.

After reaching out to all 12 sororities and 15 fraternities, only four chose to comment.

The University Press asked chapter representatives from these four fraternities and sororities about how they are working to pave the way for social changes in their chapters.

Anthony Powell, president of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity

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Javier Montalvo, president of Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity Inc.

Viviana Lopez, president of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc.

Dennisha Smith, vice president of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.

(not pictured) Ameera Sabit, Chapter Treasurer of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc.

How has your chapter responded to the issues of racial discrimination here at FAU and across the nation?

Dennisha Smith: The Pi Eta chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. meets regularly with other members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council to discuss and draft efforts the university could use that actively address racial discrimination present on campus and abroad. Education is key, so we work individually and organizationally to educate those who are uninformed through daily conversation, programming, and university conferences.

Ameera Sabit: As a Latin sorority, the pertinent issue of racism and colorism throughout our communities has always been relevant and a hot topic of conversation. We consistently discuss these topics and what we could do to reduce blatant racism, as it directly impacts the ones we love. Our sisters are always advocating for the minority community, whether it be by attending protests or creating controversial table talks, we try to remain consistent in creating a safe space for all communities at FAU. Javier Montalvo: On a national level, I do recall that after the death of George Floyd and the increase of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the start of all the protests during the summer, our national organization put out a statement condemning racial inequality. We as a chapter at FAU did an educational video alongside the Deltas on campus. Essentially we were explaining to people in a twelve-minute Instagram video: what the Black Lives Matter movement was, why it is happening, what has happened in the past that has grown into this important movement.

Anthony Powell: The first thing we did was we looked internally and made sure that we didn’t have anything that was fueling [racial discrimination]. We talked to our members and asked how we can improve ourselves and make sure we are all educated. We educated ourselves. We’re one of the most diverse chapters in the nation. So we looked to our brothers and basically made sure that we were all educated. We support each other, support people of color, and have a zero-tolerance policy on racism or discrimination. If anything like that happens, immediate boot, we don’t tolerate any of that stuff.

Have there been any instances of racial injustice within your chapter and if so what have you done to combat those situations?

Viviana Lopez: While we’re proud to say that we haven’t had any instances of racial injustice or discrimination internally, we understand that that’s not necessarily the case everywhere.

This is why we make it our mission to actively combat racial injustice and discrimination, not only within our sorority but throughout organizations and councils nationwide.

Smith: Our organization was founded due to racial injustice faced by the Black community. We work hard to keep all members properly educated on social justice issues and are glad to have not experienced any racial injustice within our chapter.

Powell: Since I’ve been at FAU, we’ve had no problems with racial injustice at all. I have many brothers that are persons of color, we hang out, we all love each other, we’re brothers. I’ve never had an issue with that at all since we’ve been here so that’s definitely something I’m proud of.

What are some ways your chapter is implementing more diversity and inclusivity in terms of members?

Smith: As a historically Black organization, one of the many ways we seek to continue the legacy of our founders is by placing no boundary on what a sister looks like. An apprentice to the Black community is more valuable than an ally, so we ensure all those interested that there is no “look,” there exists an expectation to find your role in the liberation of Black people.

Sabit: Our sorority’s motto is, “Latin by tradition, not by definition” which is crucial in recruitment considering you do not have to be Latin to join our sorority. We make it very clear when we are tabling, or recruiting members in general. If you take a look at our photos throughout our years at FAU, we have the most diverse lines with women joining that are from the Caribbean, Dominican, Arab, Asian, and many more nationalities from across the globe. We have never discriminated against a potential orientee, considering that we see the beauty in diversity. With diversity comes many different perspectives, all that is crucial to creating a safe community for people of every race.

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Will your chapter attend or even host workshops/events regarding discussions about diversity and racism at FAU? Smith: One of our anticipated events is titled “Know Your Roots,” which hopes to continue a conversation on the importance of hair and its representation in the Black community. Afro-hair is a common basis of discrimination cross-culturally, so we wish to emphasize healthy hair habits and healthy approaches to the perception of natural hair.

Powell: Actually, we’ve been talking in our chapter about doing a presentation that we are going to share with Greek life, about diversity and inclusion. That includes ageism, racism, stuff like that, and we are constructing our own with help from outside information. We are going to share it with other people and they could use that to present to their chapters or the school can use that to present to Greek life in general.

We’re in the process of making our own right now.

What do you have to say to predominantly white chapters who failed to respond to discussions of racial injustice?

Montalvo: This is something that’s affecting everyone, obviously, the minority groups specifically, the Black community, Latino community, etc. We’re all affected by these things, but to a certain extent, I believe it’s also affecting the white community because they are the ones mostly being called out for these injustices. It’s important for people to educate themselves. I think it’s important to try and understand and empathize with people so you can understand what they are going through. Even if these chapters didn’t have anything to say at meetings, I think it would’ve been nice if they could’ve attended so they could hear what’s going on in the communities. If they see something, hear something and learn, they can become advocates of change. All of that comes with education and educating yourself. Even if it’s not your community being attacked, that they help bring that change.

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Photo is from the NPHC Sorority Recruitment Night. Top left is Rakkayah Peters (President), top right is Jasmine Bodenstein-Fox (Historian), and bottom right is Isabella Conde (Treasurer).

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Feature

MULTICULTURAL STUDENTS AND THE PANDEMIC DISCRIMINATION By: Natalia Ribeiro | News Editor

FAU Students shared their thoughts on pandemic-related discrimination.

In the age of the pandemic, the topic of discrimination has come about many times.

Although the majority of FAU students have been unaffected by COVID-related discrimination, they are well aware of the stories of those who have.

Tykeem McCord, political action chair for the FAU Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said that although he hasn’t suffered COVID-related discrimination, he has read stories online about it.

“Black people do face some sort of discrimination within the healthcare system,” he said. “There’s more underlying conditions that Black people face.”

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McCord mentioned that NAACP held a town hall, where discussions were held on the conflicts that are faced within the black community.

“I think it’s important especially in a time where people have so much time on their hands,” said McCord. “It’s something we can really see, grasp, and understand like ‘Hey, this is an important issue because it’s impacting the Black community.’”

While McCord spoke about the discrimination of Black people and COVID, another student spoke from an international viewpoint. Asher Iqbal, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering from Pakistan, feels that COVID discrimination comes from scapegoating.

“Within a country, there is a division of us versus the others,” said Iqbal. “It is very easy to put [the] blame on someone and say it is because of you.”

Daniel Bell, secretary of the Asian Student Union, said that the discrimination isn’t anything new. In fact, it has increased during the pandemic, especially towards Asians.

“It’s a different culture, a very different language, very distinct features,” said Bell. “Hate [and] fear-mongering, they come from a place of ignorance.”

Just because Iqbal and Bell didn’t suffer any type of discrimination based on their background, doesn’t mean they didn’t have any hardships throughout this ongoing pandemic.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Iqbal was in Pakistan for a wedding but was worried he wouldn’t be able to fly back to the U.S. As a Ph.D. student, Iqbal has to be in-person for his research.

“I was in a constant worry whether I’ll be able to go back,” said Iqbal.

Iqbal is also an international student. When the news that international students had to take in-person classes or else they had to go back to their country, the policy seemed to conflict with what medical professionals were saying about having in-person classes.

“They showed empathy,” said Iqbal. “They came up with a solution that worked really well for me and the other international students.”

Bell, on the other hand, works in retail and has had customers glancing at him at times.

“It did give me more paranoia in my surroundings,” said Bell.

In an email from Brittany Sylvestri, Media Relations Assistant Director, said that the Center for Inclusion, Diversity, Education, and Advocacy (IDEAs) provides diversity and inclusion training to faculty, staff, and students and uses its platforms to raise awareness of health care disparities related to COVID-19.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), discrimination is one of the factors that can contribute to an increased risk of coronavirus. The discrimination, which includes racism, can lead to chronic and toxic stress that shapes social and economic factors that put people from racial or ethnic minorities at a higher risk. On the CDC website, data was found that more than 90% of who died from COVID-19 reveal those that are Hispanic, Latino, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native who have died from COVID-19 is higher than the percent of these racial and ethnic groups among the total U.S. population.

Among the things people can take away from COVID-19 discrimination, the biggest one should be to educate themselves said Bell.

“If you realize that you were wrong or you had believed something that later turns out to not be so true, accept that and be able to change.”

“On one side, the [people] who were working with the viruses, they are saying to stay at home,” said Iqbal. “On the other hand, policies are being processed telling us like you have to be in-person, otherwise go back.”

Iqbal credits International Services for being there at all times for the students. The office would have office hours every day and respond to every student.

Illustration

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By: Emily Meilands

TALENTED WRITERS DESIGNERS &PHOTOGRAPHERS NEEDED VISIT US EVERY THURSDAY AT 6 P.M. ON ZOOM