The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: African American Center for Academic Excellence

  • Humboldt State’s women’s basketball team races for racial change

    5K race to protest social and racial injustices while raising money for AACAE

    The Humboldt State Women’s Basketball team participated in Race For Change that started on Oct. 15 and ended Oct. 18. The event was a virtual 5k run, walk, or bike ride to bring awareness about the social and racial injustice happening. 

    The team joined other universities in the California State University system in participating to raise funds in order to support the African American Center for Excellence at HSU.The team plans on making this an annual event they will continue to participate in.    

     “UC San Diego women’s basketball initiated this terrific event to athletic programs across the country and we were on board from the beginning,” Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. “We saw this as an opportunity to continue to use our voices and to put into action our passion towards social justice.  One of our main objectives in the event was to get as much participation as possible to continue to bring awareness both locally and throughout other communities.”  

    The women’s basketball team raised over $1,100 and will be giving the proceeds to the AACAE. Douglas Smith, director of the AACAE, is grateful that the women’s basketball team took the initiative and supported them by participating in Race for Change.

    “Funding for the Center has been a challenge since it opened its doors five years ago,” Smith said. “So this type of support will help us engage and develop a sense of belonging in the Black student community.”

    The ACCAE team appreciated the HSU athletes who participated and showed their support. The other HSU teams who joined in the event were the women’s volleyball team and women’s rowing. With moving forward to next year the women’s basketball team expects an even bigger event with more participants. 

    The team had numerous team discussions and individual conversations about racism and social injustice prior to the event. Samantha Caries, a junior on the team, believes that the conversations that have been happening on an individual and a national level deserve to be recognized.

    “I feel like they’re finally shedding light on racism that takes place daily in the world,” Caries said. “This coverage should not go away. We are lost for words to how this is continuing to happen.” 

    Caries struggled to express her frustration over the fact that the world was already forgetting about the Black Lives Matter movement and the systemic targeting of the Black community.

    “To be honest, I can’t find strong enough words to fully express how strongly I feel about the social injustices, the hate, and the racism that continues to occur in our world,” Caries said.  “It disgusts me, it makes me extremely angry, and I feel sad and apologetic to the Black community.  

    Bento-Jackson hoped people could open their eyes, their ears and their hearts to attempt to understand the life that the Black community and BIPOC have to endure on a daily basis and to genuinely show empathy. 

    Smith expressed appreciation for the women’s basketball team providing the AACAE with the much needed funding to continue their work and dialogue within the HSU community.

    “Raising awareness is one step in the long process of having honest and real change in our society,” Smith said. “This is the role the women’s basketball team assumed and it is appreciated. We all have a direct role to play with regards to addressing social injustice and how it manifests itself in the lives of so many people in this country and around the world.”

  • Humboldt State University’s women soccer team create bracelets in support of Black Lives Matter

    Humboldt State University’s women soccer team create bracelets in support of Black Lives Matter

    Proceeds go to the African American Center of Academic Excellence

    The Humboldt State University women’s soccer team started a bracelets for change movement to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

    Mary Swisher, a senior at HSU and soccer player throughout college, stated that the social injustice present within our country was infuriating and motivated the team to combat the issue.

    “While I cannot speak on the racist experiences that African Americans face, it hurts me to hear, see and learn about the effect that racism has on my peers in athletics, at school and the border community of color,” Swisher said. “My teammates and I have decided that we will continue to educate, advocate and work to support people of color in our community and our country.”

    Athletes are asking for donations for HSU’s African American Center of Academic Excellence. The team has handmade 30 bracelets out of the 70 that were ordered by friends, family and the community, totaling more than $700 dollars to the AACAE so far.

    The AACAE is a cultural and social hub on campus to support identifiable Black students and offer them a higher education. Douglas Smith the Organizer for HSU’s AACAE said he was shocked by the compassion demonstrated by the women’s soccer team.

    “Very grateful for multiple reasons. We didn’t reach out to them or ask to fundraise,” Smith said. “They did it on their own ambitions. I was grateful.”

    COVID-19 and budget cuts hit the AACAE hard. With the money being donated, they feel extremely grateful and thankful. Smith believes it’s time to confront racial injustices head on and create dialogue.

    “Times up. Honestly the time for conversation and talking about it and educating people about it, it’s kinda over,” Smith said. “If there isn’t action being taken place right now then move out of the way. My mood for your question is it’s time for action and talk is rhetoric.”

    Coach Grant Landy of the women’s basketball team stated that the athletes came up with the bracelet idea completely on their own and had the AACAE in mind.

    “I challenged the team to continue the conversation about racial injustice and they came up with the bracelet idea,” Landy said. “They wanted to help our campus community and chose the AACAE to help support.”

    The women’s basketball team choose to help support HSU’s own clubs and organizations. Landy applauds the team’s spirit and dedication to raising awareness for racial injustice.

    The Women’s Soccer Team is still accepting bracelet orders and is still taking donations to support HSU’s AACAE.

    Swisher stated that the women’s basketball team felt they needed to contribute more than conversation to the racial injustice movement.

    “As a team we were having conversations about the injustice against African Americans in our country,” Swisher said. “The conversations were productive and we were educating ourselves but we decided that talking about that problem was not enough.”

    The co-captain from the women’s soccer team, Sabine Postma, has experience doing similar fundraisers in her hometown in Washington. The team decided their impact would be most effective if they donated their proceeds to a local organization, like AACAE.

    “It’s an admirable organization on our Humboldt State campus that empowers, supports, and celebrates the Black lives in our community,” Postma said.

  • Dr. Cornel West Headlines Black Liberation Month at HSU

    Dr. Cornel West Headlines Black Liberation Month at HSU

    Philosopher, activist and intellectual Dr. Cornel West visiting Humboldt State University

    Dr. Cornel West will be at Humboldt State University Friday, Feb. 7 to celebrate Black Liberation Month as the keynote speaker of a series of events.

    West advocates for race, gender and class equality. West’s social and political activism goes back to his days at John F. Kennedy high school where he marched for civil rights and protested against the lack of diversity and black studies classes offered at the school.

    West went on to become class president of his high school before attending both Harvard and Princeton Universities. He is known for infusing the world with academic inference, intelligence and philosophical reflection.

    The event is hosted by HSU’s African American Center for Academic Excellence and HSU Brothers United.

    West’s lecture will focus on topics from his 1993 book, “Race Matters.” Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room.

    The first 100 students through the door with an ID will receive a free copy of “Race Matters.” Additional copies can be found at Northtown Books at 947 H St. in Arcata.

    Tickets are free and available at the University Center Ticket Office at HSU, which can be reached at (707) 826-3928.

  • Here to Stay: AACAE Hires Permanent Director

    Here to Stay: AACAE Hires Permanent Director

    Bridging the cultural gap between the campus and community

    Douglas Smith drove up to Humboldt State for the first time in 2013 as a transfer student with big eyes for a small school.

    Smith was seeking same the small school feeling that he got while attending College of the Canyons, away from his home in Los Angeles. At first, Smith experienced anxiety about being one the few people of color in Arcata, but he found a way to adapt and thrive in time.

    Today, he’s the director for the African American Center for Academic Excellence, and is four months into his new role. Smith holds his own college experiences as reference when approaching the job.

    “My big benefit to coming to Humboldt State was that I had these opportunities for cultural exchange with different kinds of people,” Smith said.

    Smith believes the center should be a place that highlights the black experience and culture, a space where students and community can freely speak and learn. Smith hopes the center will strengthen the campus community and bridge the gap between the campus and locals.

    Smith emphasized intercultural exchange as an important part of learning. One way the center achieves this is through Talking Drum, a safe space that gives students the agency to converse over the issues that matter to them.

    HSU sophomore Brooklyn Reed is the new facilitator for Talking Drum. She met Smith tabling in the quad and offered some of her ideas on how the center’s discussions could be run.

    “I talked to him about how to facilitate it, about what I wanted it to look like, how I wanted to build community,” Reed said. “He was just very, super supportive. Just yes, like, ‘let’s do this!’”

    Reed wants to run the discussions the way she learned back home in Los Angeles. She also wants the chief of police to attend some meetings so that the center can hold the police accountable if they disagree with their conduct.

    Smith’s approach to working with Reed speaks to how he wants to take a step back when it comes to campus dialogue. For his first couple of months, Smith said he spent the majority of his time listening to student feedback.

    “I’m trying to come in with this idea of like, ‘Okay, I have some ideas for things,’” Smith said. “But I really want to learn and listen to what students’ needs are, and identify those needs before I go in and start making decisions here and there.”

    In Talking Drum, students have a safe space that gives them the agency to converse over the issues that matter to them. | Photo by Michael Weber

    This approach allows the Dean of Students Office to be informed by what the center is doing, versus managing from the top down. Letting students take control of the dialogue means that they will be directly influencing the Dean of Students.

    “I have been wanting every [discussion] to be student-led, student-driven, and have that peer to peer connection,” Smith said.

    Smith promotes the free exchange of ideas because he believes dialogue and cultural exchange is important to becoming part of the community.

    One of Smith’s most profound influences on the way he approaches intercultural exchange occurred in his senior semester spent abroad in Santiago, Chile. When he landed, Smith recognized the feeling of being alone and started to familiarize himself with the local area.

    “My experience in Humboldt County and at HSU as the ‘other,’ and learning how to move from a perpetual state of survival mindset to adapting and thriving prepared me in so many ways for my time abroad,” Smith said.

    Smith’s directive for the center is a culmination of his experiences learning about other people.

    “Having that cultural exchange and different kinds of people allowed me to have more diverse viewpoints,” Smith said. “I’m an extrovert. Inside, I might feel anxiety about me, but I’ve always kind of pushed myself to engage with people.”

  • Celebrating a multicultural campus

    Celebrating a multicultural campus

    With the official beginning of the new school year, clubs and organizations on campus are off to a strong start, including the African American Center for Academic Excellence, also known as the AACAE.

    The Center hosted their first event of the semester on Sept. 2, 2017, a Welcome Black Reception, to incoming and returning Humboldt State University students. The event brought together students and faculty of all different ages, genders, and races together to kick off the new school year.

    The AACAE is a student support space on the campus of HSU that aims to celebrate our multicultural campus by providing a guiding resource for students who identify as African American, Black or of African descent, as well as the entire university community. The organization was established in 2015 and since then has been continuously contributing to the efforts of making the Humboldt campus more inclusive and safe.

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    Games, snacks and music bring together students at “Welcome Black Reception” in the KBR.

    Erin Youngblood-Smith, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work and interning at the AACAE says, this semester, the Center’s goals are to continue helping, providing academic support and guidance for the student body of the HSU campus, as well as planning and collaborating with outside services, as well as other campus-based clubs on upcoming events.

    Additionally, the AACAE has a serious agenda this semester, following the murder of David Josiah Lawson in April.

    Jimento Aikhuele, a graduate student majoring in Environmental Engineering and intern at the AACAE said that the event is what brought him into the Center. “I knew the local [population] would be down and they might need support, one way or another.”

    Both Youngblood-Smith and Aikhuele agree there is a gap between the Humboldt University community and the Arcata community that must be bridged.

    “There cannot be a separation between the campus and the local community, there needs to be really structured communication,” Youngblood-Smith said, “stronger ties between the city and the university’ In order for all students to feel safe.”

    Youngblood-Smith advocates education, such as conversations and workshops on safety in communities other than your own.

    “That’s a priority, making sure our students know there are dangers everywhere and you need to be aware of them,” Youngblood-Smith said.

    One student that has benefited from AACAE’s resources and proactivity is 19-year-old senior Psychology major Gabrielle Fox.

    Fox says her transition to HSU would not have been as smooth if it wasn’t for the Center.

    “There are people there who genuinely, truly want to see you succeed, it really makes a difference when you know you have somebody, who has your back and genuinely wants to see you the best that you could be,” Fox said.

    According to Fox, to be willing to open your mind to different experiences and opinion is a significant step to inclusivity on campus and in the community.