The Lumberjack Serving the Humboldt State University campus and community since 1929
By Tina Sampay
If you do not see me tabling behind the Black Student Union table on the quad, there is a very interesting reason why. When Humboldt State’s administration cared nothing about what Black students were doing on this campus, the Black Student Union picked up where the university dropped the ball. A few dedicated students gathered together and envisioned ways to engage other Black students on campus.
If not for these students, there would have been no events surrounding Black History Month on HSU’s campus last year. BSU members constructed and hosted all the events concerning Black History Month. This included weekly roundtable discussions, film screenings and events such as “Let’s Talk and Eat.” A grant was written to bring our guest speaker, a former member of the Black Panther Party, Erica Huggins to campus. Last semester, BSU also hosted our “Poetry is Not a Luxury” event, which is a poetry slam we envisioned and host every semester.
When school started this fall, all students who identify as Black or African-American received an email from the new “African-American Center For Academic Excellence” with upcoming events and a link to a resource guide. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) puts this resource guide together specifically for African-American students every year.
This year’s guide had various errors such as outdated clubs, retired professors, non-listed professors, and classes that haven’t been offered on this campus for ten years. The only updated information in the guide, was a paragraph about the new centers and giving the new center credit for events typically hosted by BSU. In addition, BSU has been completely removed from the guide when we were at the forefront of what happened on this campus concerning Black students and culture.
You can imagine the shock from BSU members who came back to school this fall and found our events had been co-opted. The most appalling and disrespectful aspect of the whole situation was the center’s name listed in the guide as being the host of our “Poetry is a Luxury” event, which was always hosted by BSU. We felt that our autonomy as a student-based club on campus was in serious jeopardy.
As vice president of HSU’s Black Student Union, I constructed an email along with other members of the executive board pointing out the various errors in the guide, specifically the ways in which our events had been co-opted. This was sent to Radha Webley who is head of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion along with Molly Kresl in the clubs office. We offered to sit down with ODI and go through the guide with them to fix the errors. We only received an email from the director of the new center, although he has stated he had nothing to do with the guide. Radha sent an email later that day, which stated she heard the center offered to sit down with us. Why would we sit down with the director of the center, when ODI is in charge of constructing these resource guides? This is why we cc’d other people in the email. HSU’s administration seriously lacks cross-cultural understanding. Especially as it concerns Black students on this campus. As a result, students of color are always sent to the minority staff which is deeply problematic.
We have yet to receive an apology as students in BSU from ODI for the errors regarding BSU events as listed in their guide. I see and understand the transitions this university is going through to fix its institutional failures. Within these transitions, however, there should be no reason the work that student leaders on this campus were already doing is lost in that transition.
I choose not to be associated with BSU anymore because administration has singled me out personally. I have been warned that my conduct is disruptive and it has been said that I am “attacking” the center by sending an email as VP of BSU, asking why the center is being accredited for our events as a student based club on campus. I have been threatened by BSU’s “advisor” to be taken off the board for “disruptive” behavior when in actuality, no administration has direct control over how student clubs are run on campus. That’s the beauty of student-based clubs autonomy. Whereas BSU’s autonomy had been threatened and now I have been threatened as a student.
I see that the work myself and other Black students have done on this campus is undermined by this university, which is why I chose to step back. Now my personal character is being assassinated so the university doesn’t have to address its wrongdoings and ignorance when it comes to what’s happening with Black students on this campus. I choose to focus on my 28 units and walking in May. I could care less how HSU thinks it is handling its “minority problem.” And I wish them the best of luck.
Hey Queen. Not cool what you had to go through with this administration..you are still one of biggest inspirational people I know on campus. I completely understand why your backing up…Bet money though, as long as I’m on campus I’m not letting BSU slip on anything. Please come to the meetings if you ever have time..even one doesn’t welcome you, I bet 15 more will. See you around Tina 🙂
Props Tina. HSU admin are racist as per their job descriptions! Not to mention their incompetence.
They are however, unfortunately very competent, as a bunch soulless sales people. They specialize in selling higher education privatization, gentrification in the local community, and the neo-liberal agenda.
At best they are held captive in their racist job descriptions, but generally they are a bunch of old white wealthy racist a**holes.