Caucus Takes A Stand
By Barbara Gertzen
Capital Times Assistant News Editor
The December meeting of the
University Faculty Senate at Penn State-
University Park ended abruptly when a
group of students invited to address the
senate about racial issues introduced a list
of demands and insisted the senate
respond immediately to their concerns.
Because the UFS had not read the stu
dents' document prior to their presenta
tion, the senate chair adjourned the meet
ing, prompting the students to take their
grievance directly to university President
Graham Spanier. Spanier convened anoth
er meeting that evening between the stu
dents, university administr
ty leaders
Spanier's meeting last
ed four hours and ended
with all parties signing a
document that, in part,
expressed the university's
support of a student-
appointed committee to
further examine and dis-
cuss the students' claims
John Nichols, profes
sor of communications
and chair-elect of the
UFS, concedes that the
students' action was unex-
pected, but he says "the
spark that lit the fire" was
a series of hate mail
directed to several people at University
Park last fall. Among those who received
hate letters was the student president of
the Black Caucus and a black member of
the university board of trustees.
PSU officials do not know where the
hate mail came from and are still looking
into the matter, but Nichols posits that the
incidents "provoked introspection" on
campus, culminating in the students'
meeting with UFS. Nichols stresses that
while the senate chair adjourned last
month's meeting in view of the unantici
pated development, "it [UFS] did not
adjourn the issue."
Nichols confirms that modifications to
the African and African-American Studies
curriculum was one of the chief objec
tivesof the students' directive. Nichols
particularly praised the students' proposal
for a course geared toward providing
community leadership training, skills stu
dents can take back to their communities
and "tackle the problem [racism] at its
roots."
LaKeisha Wolf, president of the Black
Caucus at University Park and a broadcast
journalism major, discloses that the day-
PSU Black Student
long confrontation between students and
administrators at University Park resulted
from events that occurred well before hate
mail was received on campus. Wolf, who
received two hate letters in October,
points out that "the black student popula
tion [at University Park] noticed that the
African and African-American Studies
department was slowly shrinking" and
wasn't receiving the support it should.
Comparing the situation to the problems
faced within black communities, Wolf
says "it didn't make sense that a depart
ment designed and set up to address these
issues was shrinking."
The Black Caucus, Wolf says, would
like to see a mandatory course that "treats
how it affects all Americans," not just
blacks and whites. "Racism affects every
body," Wolf says, and "the issues this
class could address are not necessarily the
truth a lot of people realize currently."
The student committee to oversee
future discussion of racial issues at
University Park has been named the
Gyenam Committee, according to Wolf.
"Gyenam" is a Ghanan word that signi
fies: "I die when God dies," a saying that
Wolf admits reflects her life-long commit
ment to study racial issues. Wolf also
reports the Black Caucus is hoping to con
duct a black student summit including all
commonwealth campuses at the end of
February. The summit is being coordinat
ed with Gabriel Bryant, president of
Commonwealth Campuses Student
Government and a member of the Black
Caucus. "This is everybody's struggle,"
Wolf declares.
Damon Walton, president of the
Latino Student Union and a sociology
major at PSH, echoes Wolf's assertion.
Walton believes that even though PSH is a
small campus, improvements in the Afro-
American studies curriculum "could pro-
vide more awareness of what blacks have
been through in the past and increase tol
erance to our issues." Myra Miller, vice
president of PSH's Black Student Union
and a applied behavioral sciences major,
adds that "the more people realize our dif
ferences, the more they also realize our
similarities." Walton also feels students
coming to PSH should be encouraged to
take African and Afro-American courses.
"Just because the classes are here doesn't
mean they [students] will be taking them,"
Walton says.
Dr. Clem E. Gilpin, PSH assistant pro
fessor of community systems and Afro-
American studies, supports Walton's
assessment. In the '6os and '7os, Gilpin
Ey had between 35-40 stu
dents enrolled per semes
ter in his "Contemporary
Africa" class; this semes
ter he has 16 students in
his PSH class.
While Gilpin con
cedes there are many fac
tors affecting student
enrollment (including the
self-acknowledged
"Gilpin Factor"), he
believes that interest
about race relations was
generally much higher
among Americans 30
years ago and, today,
many students incorrect
ly assume African-
American studies "are for the black stu
dents." Gilpin, nevertheless, contends
"there are many routes to get to a desired
goal" and he expresses a wish "that at
some point in time every white student
had a chance to be a minority."
The environment at PSH makes it easy
for students to avoid African-American
studies, Gilpin asserts, but he challenges
students to take a class that examines
another culture or race "because there's
something that can be learned there"
Gilpin predicts the University Park
confrontation will ultimately produce pos
itive results, although he readily admits he
is not opposed to conflict. "Conflict yes,
the more the merrier!" Gilpin exults,
although he advises that "fmals week is
not a great time to take on the university
administration." Gilpin continued by say
ing, "Conflict indicates that PSU is an
institution going through changes so some
things need to be resolved, and if issues
are not presented and addressed, change
cannot occur." A crucial component of
conflict, he concludes, "is [that] interac
tion is taking place."
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