University of Alabama elects first African-American SGA president in four decades

By: Melissa Brown

The University of Alabama Tuesday elected their first black Student Government Association president in almost four decades. 

Elliot Spillers, a junior from Pelham, is also considered to be the first non-Machine candidate to win the election since John Merrill (now Alabama's Secretary of State) won in 1986.

This will be Spillers' first elected position within the SGA, where he has served appointed positions, most recently as deputy director of engagement.

He is studying business management with a political science minor, and is a member of the Honors College. 

Spillers said he was "shocked and thankful" after receiving the election results. 

““This is my third time at this, and each time I’ve grown tremendously as a leader and a person,” Spillers said when reached by phone Tuesday evening. “I’ve never lost hope, hope for this university and what we’ll accomplish in the next year. The real work begins tomorrow. To all the students who voted for me, thank you. It’s because of you we have the opportunity to bring sustainable change here to Alabama.” ”
— Elliot Spillers

Spillers defeated Stephen Keller for the position, who is currently vice president of student affairs in the SGA. 

In a statement Tuesday evening, Keller congratulated Spillers on an "excellent campaign" and thanked his supporters.

Student newspaper The Crimson White reported voter turnout was the highest it has been in at least six years. Spillers received 8,602 of the 14,931 votes cast. 

Read the full story at: http://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/index.ssf/2015/03/university_of_alabama_elects_f.html

 

Teaching The Movement: A Teacher's Perspective

Story by Michelle Higgins, Social Studies teacher at Walla Walla High School, photos by Matt Banderas

                Volunteers, students and teachers work together to bring Civil Rights’ Education into classrooms. It seems like a large task in the beginning, but when people work ahead of time, the finished product is successful. This program provides college student volunteers with the opportunity to work inside classrooms and present new ideas to younger students. It also provides children and youths with the opportunity to work with college students who are pursuing their post-high school education and serve as mentors and role models.

          In my high school classroom, students work together to share their thoughts and ideas after reading Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In the beginning, they hesitate to read passages and share their ideas with others because they do not consider themselves to be great scholars or experts. However, after a few minutes, they dive deeper into each passage and begin to hear the voice King uses to describe inequality, segregation and hatred towards African-Americans. They wrestle with the challenging text—there are many words that are not a part of their daily or academic vocabulary. However, this does not prevent them from participating and developing a better understanding of King’s purpose and point of view.

“Does it take some work and effort to make this happen? Yes, it does. Can it be done by nearly any college or university? Absolutely! Is it worth stepping outside of our comfort zones as educators to invite a group of college students into our classrooms to share lessons with our students? Yes, yes, yes!!!”
— Michelle Higgins, Walla Walla High School

                Many students can relate to feeling like an “outsider” at some point in their lives. Dr. King addresses people in his “Letter” who give him this label, also. Teenagers hear this statement and often it catches their attention. How can a man like Dr. King who represents such a large part of the Civil Rights’ Movement in their minds be an “outsider?” They are curious, they read further into the text and begin to ask “why?”

Teach the Movement is expanding to other parts of Washington State now. We are excited to welcome Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington on board. Both universities have programs in place already that make it easier for them to organize classroom visits with college student volunteers. Does it take some work and effort to make this happen? Yes, it does. Can it be done by nearly any college or university? Absolutely! Is it worth stepping outside of our comfort zones as educators to invite a group of college students into our classrooms to share lessons with our students? Yes, yes, yes!!!

UA Chapter-SPLC on Campus Hosts Teaching Tolerance Film and Discussion

UA Chapter-SPLC on Campus hosted Teaching Tolerance's A Time For Justice (with popcorn and cookies) and seven people came. "People thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and we split into small groups afterward to share our thoughts and feelings in a quasi-sustained dialogue type conversation,"-UA SPLC on Campus President, Dwyer Freeman.

UA's SPLC on Campus chapter will be hosting their next meeting in three weeks where they will discuss Civil Rights at UA, from Bloody Tuesday to Sorority Segregation. 

Teaching The Movement: A Student's Perspective

Whitman College, Walla Walla Public Schools, and the Southern Poverty Law Center have partnered since 2011 to create Whitman Teaches The Movement. A program which utilizes free Teaching Tolerance materials to prepare students to go into local public school classrooms to creatively teach lessons on the modern American Civil Rights Movement. This year Whitman sent 42 students into 34 classrooms over a 2 week period. For more information on creating a Teach the Movement program on your campus visit the What You Can Do tab on our website.

Story by Whitman Teaches The Movement Volunteer, Katy Wills '16, photos by Matt Banderas

 

“They’re more scared of you than you are of them,” I kept repeating to myself as I walked down the hallway of my college town’s local high school, heart thumping. I was scared to go into a high school with students in the peak of a judgmental and self-conscious stage of life, but I was trained for the lesson and I felt ready. I was ready to walk into a classroom of engaged students ready to learn and be inspired by an amazing civil rights crusader, Cesar Chavez.

The lesson began with a 39 minute film giving a concise yet detailed overview of the origins of the farmworker rights movement and then transitioned into small group discussions facilitated by student leaders from Whitman College. My partner and I split the class in half and got to work. I settled down with my group of 10 and we went around the circle introducing ourselves and describing an aspect of the film that stood out to each of us. Students were most vocally horrified at the thought that there weren’t bathrooms in the field, but cited the prevalence of pesticide spray and the lack of water and fair pay as disturbing as well. The lesson provided a solid base to understand the gross inequality farm workers faced in the 60s. I was pleased with their ability to relate the racist and classist experiences from the film to what they see in the news today.

I can speak more to my experience than I can to theirs. I spent just over an hour with this group of 14 year olds but I’ve spent 20 years in my own head. While I was sitting in the classroom I made an important realization about my own reasoning for participating in Whitman Teaches the Movement. This opportunity was critical for me because it helped me understand that youth have incredible power. I was inspired by the idea of training a new generation of activists, but while standing in front of 20 awkward, confused, pubescent faces, I realized that I am an integral part of the current generation.

It took me until my third year at Whitman to engage in the important experience of “teaching the movement” because I assumed for two years that it wasn’t my place. As a white, middle-class student at a prestigious college, I found myself uncomfortable with my privilege. I felt it wasn’t okay for me to teach about civil rights to younger students because I’m part of a class of people who have committed monumental crimes of oppression. Teaching the movement was important because it gave me opportunity to stop my personal trend of privilege paralysis and come to terms with my potential as an agent of change.

Teaching the movement is an empowering experience for the teacher and allows the students a change of pace and insight into the passions of those to whom they may look up but I can’t say that their minds were blown. It would be insincere and presumptuous to rave about the 65 minutes I spent in the classroom as a groundbreaking experience for those wily and slightly scary high schoolers; but what I can say is that I planted a seed in their minds and poured a little water on my own.

 

SPLC Outreach Director holds training at UW-Stout

SPLC Outreach Director, Lecia Brooks hosted a Community Response to Bias training for students and staff at UW-Stout on Saturday, January 31st. 

SPLC Outreach Director, Lecia Brooks hosted a Community Response to Bias training for students and staff at UW-Stout on Saturday, January 31st. 

““The training was a genuinely great experience that created a safe space for everyone involved. Personally, I appreciated the opportunity to express concerns about not only campus but also my place as an ally in an environment that was open and productive. I have done trainings similar to the bias/hate training but it did not involve nearly as much interaction and sharing throughout the process. This certainly added a level of inclusion especially for those who are generally quiet in those circumstances.””
— Shelby Schuppe '15

Experts: females and students of color face 'microaggressions' on campus

While some universities report an increase enrollment for women and students of color, those same groups say micro-aggression is a common occurrence on campus. Have you experienced micro-aggression on your campus, if so please share?

By Maggie Lit, January, 12, 2015 

A recent diversity project reportedly reveals the microaggression-filled environments females and students of color consistently face on college campuses.

The Voices of Diversity project—conducted by Paula Caplan, an associate at Harvard's DuBois Institute, Henry Louis Gates Jr., an Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, and Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President for Educational Testing Service—claims to investigate the “experiences of students of color and women students on campuses of predominantly white institutions.” In their findings, the professors say these students feel anything but welcome, according to Inside Higher Ed.

“People who are [the targets of microaggression] spend a great deal of time in internal dialogue, asking themselves whether they imagined or misinterpreted what the other person said or did and, given the less blatant form of mistreatment,” the authors told Inside Higher Ed. “[The] feeling apprehension and anguish [sic] about whether, if they try to name and object to what was done to them, they will only be told that they are overly sensitive or even that they are imagining it.”

““On all four campuses, racist and sexist treatment often take the form of micro-aggression, causing their targets confusion, sadness, self-doubt, anxiety, and frustration and constituting drains on their energy and attention.””

The report is based on online surveys and interview responses from more than 200 students at four higher education institutions: Missouri State University, two anonymous schools in the South and Midwest, and a private, elite school in the Northeast.

“Although the authors of recent studies and of decisions in court cases have reported that diversity is an important and beneficial part of the educational process, a disproportionate amount of the focus has been on diversity's benefits to white students,” wrote Caplan, the director of the project.

The authors noted the increase in minority enrollment in college but says it is not a coincidence that these students tend to graduate at lower rates than other students.

“On all four campuses, racist and sexist treatment often take the form of micro-aggression, causing their targets confusion, sadness, self-doubt, anxiety, and frustration and constituting drains on their energy and attention,” reads the report.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the report describes the alleged microaggressions and blatant acts of racism minority students constantly endure. One Latino student assured authors that she was mistaken for a custodian when hanging up posters in a dormitory. Several black students said campus police would often suspect they were trouble makers trying to cause problems when they were in the library studying.

“I go nuts, I do,” Gladys, a Latina senior is quoted saying the report. “It hurts so much, so much. It’s indescribable the way it makes you feel. Your whole body becomes hot and your eyes automatically become glassy, because you just feel so inferior.”

The report also claims that although women account for 57-percent on the student body at the institutions surveyed, they are trapped in a demeaning and sexist environment. Some women claimed the lack of female instructors and course material featuring women often made them feel unwelcome. They also claimed groping on campus was rampant.

“Because of the nature of students’ experiences of sexism and racism on campus, it is essential for university administrators to pay close and intense attention to the suffering that results from mistreatment and to take steps to change the chilliness of the climate for women and students of color," wrote the authors.

The authors claim an individualized report of the investigation’s finding has been sent to each university involved. One school is reportedly making changes already while the others are developing “comprehensive action plans.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MaggieLitCRO

 

Students help fight hate, promote acceptance with SPLC on Campus

Dwyer Freeman remembers reading about the civil rights movement in high school textbooks.

“I had always sensed a sort of finality, as if the [Southern Christian Leadership Conference] and [the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] had accomplished their goals, and there was no more work to be done,” the University of Alabama student said. “‘Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and all the problems were solved.’”

Freeman has since realized there is more work to be done to ensure equal justice and opportunity for all. That’s why she is starting a Southern Poverty Law Center club at the University of Alabama. It’s part of a new initiative – SPLC on Campus – an effort to help college students raise awareness about social justice issues with their peers and become agents of change within their community.

“We’re not as far removed from [former Alabama Governor George] Wallace’s ‘stand in the schoolhouse door’ as we would like to think,” Freeman said. “There is a need for awareness and open discussion, patience and personal connections to fight bigotry and bias present on campus and throughout the state of Alabama. SPLC on Campus will be a very effective way to facilitate this change.”

The SPLC is working with early adopters of the program at several campuses to fine-tune this new initiative to empower college students. The SPLC recently held a webinar to help students learn about its work, and more are planned for the future. Live, in-person events also are being planned.

At Eastern Kentucky University, organizers saw an SPLC club as a way to coordinate activities among groups focused on racial, immigration and LGBT issues. “We decided to start a SPLC on Campus group as soon as we learned of the program,” said Gary Potter, the club’s faculty adviser.

The club seeks to promote the idea that individuals have the power to transform their community.

“We started the SPLC chapter at Eastern Kentucky University with a vision to create not only social change but also to empower individuals to become independent actors of social change,” said club president Adrienne McCarthy. “Like the great civil and human rights activist Ella Baker once said, ‘Strong people don’t need strong leaders.’”

“The Community We Aspire to Be"

This hateful flyer was found on SPLC on Campus chapter Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. Similar flyers were distributed at the University of Kentucky earlier. Here's how UK's President responded, how would you handle this hateful propaganda?

By Eli Capilouto, December, 11 2014.

Dear Campus Community,

Whatever your perspective regarding the events in recent days in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, we should all be able to agree on one thing: they are tragedies — tragedies for the families involved, the communities impacted and all of us who have watched the painful conversations necessarily provoked across our country. It should be no surprise, moreover, that a university is where many of those difficult conversations are being held.

That is as it should be. That is who we are — a place safe for ideas, however challenging, to be given free voice. I am proud of the leadership of our students who have organized silent protests to express their outrage. These efforts are a demonstration, too, of the unyielding and unbreakable hope that we can finally muster the will and conceive the way to break down the unnecessary barriers that separate us.

However, the ability to challenge ourselves to promote peace and reconciliation is threatened by the anonymous reaction of a small number who choose to make incendiary and hate-filled comments behind the anonymity that social media sometimes affords. Everyone is entitled to their views, and college campuses are vibrant as places for robust debate about the issues of the day, safely ensconced in the mantle of free speech. It’s expected – and welcomed – that we will disagree as we participate in the spirited arena of ideas. But hate-filled slurs hurled for no reason other than to demean another person have no place here. Such language is indicative of narrow mindedness and mean spirit; and what I have read sickens me. It is not who we are or wish to be.

The reality of independent social media is we cannot control those conversations. But what we can and will continue to do is work hard to ensure the safety and dignity of our community and refuse to allow a hostile environment to take root on our campus.

We will not let the voices of a few define us. We will remain resolute in welcoming every member of the human family to join us here – to live, to learn, and to work; and to assert their views with the knowledge that they are full share-holders in this community of students and scholars. In that spirit of community, I stand firmly in support of those willing to protest, defend their views, and raise uncomfortable questions openly and honestly and with respect for others.

Words, of course, can dishearten and denigrate. But they also can – and should – galvanize and enlighten. For example, I was honored Wednesday to participate in a conversation at our Martin Luther King Center about the damage that is caused by bias and stereotype. Those who spoke reminded me, in vivid terms, of the harm that comes from words and actions; and they described their frustration and sadness at the unnecessary barriers that still divide us. That is the dialogue we must have – and continue to have – if we are going to continue the search for truth, peace, and justice.

It is against that backdrop of hopeful, but challenging dialogue that I want to express my deep appreciation to the members of our faculty and staff and to our students. Even with recent days of difficulty and painful reminders that we sometimes fall short of what we aspire to be in our country, we also are in a season of hope, a season of renewal. I see that spirit every day at this special place. Your talent, creativity, and hard work are the foundation for our success; and your love for and commitment to our campus community and the Commonwealth we serve reveals the giving heart and gentle soul of this special place. It is a gift to work alongside you in our common cause to improve the lives of others.

Our ultimate goal should forever be to create and sustain a community where everyone feels welcome, empowered, and safe. That is the community we are at the University of Kentucky.