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About 30 students attend the town hall on
Wednesday evening
Photos by Nipuni Gomes
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The Trinity Progressives, a student organization advocating progressive thought and student activism, hosted the meeting at the Bell Center dance studio.
About 30 students attended the meeting, sitting on blankets spread around the floor and snacking on guacamole and oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies. In such a relaxing environment, students felt comfortable opening up.
Attendees used post-it notes to write down their answers to questions written on posters on the mirrored walls of the studio. “If you could change one thing about the racial climate at Trinity, what would you change?” read one question. Students posted answers including “talk about what we can improve,” “more conversations about race” and “better attitudes.” Another question, “One word that comes to mind when thinking of Trinity’s racial climate,” garnered replies such as “shallow,” “average,” “hidden agenda” and “glossed over.”
People also broke into small groups to discuss topics such as the “Oreo syndrome,” stereotyping, racism within communities and the issue of being considered “authentic” in one’s own community.
Most attendees agreed that there was a lack of mingling among students of different races as well as different ethnicity-based student organizations. They called for means to provide more information regarding different cultures and ethnicities and more interaction among ethnic groups.
“The general consensus is that the administration and students are really supportive; it’s just a matter of organization,” said Beth Legg, Trinity Progressives’ co-president and a sophomore in Sociology and Urban Studies.
Legg and Nick Santulli, the other co-president, said the idea for this town hall emerged in light of the recent nationwide debates regarding racial relations on college campuses.
“We thought Trinity needed to have a conversation about our racial climate, to diagnose any possible problems. We wanted to provide students with an outlet to express themselves,” said Santulli, a sophomore Political Science major.
“I have been waiting for something like this,” said sophomore Tahlar Rowe, president of the Black Student Union. “I feel like this event needs to happen over a large portion of our student body, who need to be educated on what it’s like to be from another race.”
This view was echoed by Robyn Wheelock, a junior of Communication major. “As a white student, I have a lot of privilege that affects the way I see the world, and I want to break out of that,” she said.
“I’m very pleased with the level of engagement, sensitivity and respect that students showed to one another and I hope it reflects in the greater Trinity community,” said Alfred Montoya, professor of Anthropology and the only faculty member attending the town hall. The event also gave him a greater sense of students’ perspective regarding campus climate, he said.
Most attendees agreed that there was a lack of mingling among students of different races as well as different ethnicity-based student organizations. They called for means to provide more information regarding different cultures and ethnicities and more interaction among ethnic groups.
“The general consensus is that the administration and students are really supportive; it’s just a matter of organization,” said Beth Legg, Trinity Progressives’ co-president and a sophomore in Sociology and Urban Studies.
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| Students post sticky note answers to questions regarding racial climate on campus |
“I have been waiting for something like this,” said sophomore Tahlar Rowe, president of the Black Student Union. “I feel like this event needs to happen over a large portion of our student body, who need to be educated on what it’s like to be from another race.”
This view was echoed by Robyn Wheelock, a junior of Communication major. “As a white student, I have a lot of privilege that affects the way I see the world, and I want to break out of that,” she said.
“I’m very pleased with the level of engagement, sensitivity and respect that students showed to one another and I hope it reflects in the greater Trinity community,” said Alfred Montoya, professor of Anthropology and the only faculty member attending the town hall. The event also gave him a greater sense of students’ perspective regarding campus climate, he said.
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