Desi LaPoole
Features Editor
The College of Wooster’s multicultural organizations for some students are part of what makes the experience at the College so memorable. For racial and ethnic minorities and international students, these organizations can provide a safe space where not only members can be with others like them, but also provide opportunities for those not part of the organization to learn about new cultures and experiences.
However, despite the work that these organizations do for members and the larger community, some organizations face struggles and setbacks that stem from systems of the College. In the past years, multicultural organizations have had issues with communicating with the administration and other departments on campus, which, in an extreme case a few years ago, almost dissolved the African Student Union (ASU).
This lack of communication and support is the reason why multicultural organizations were a main focus in last semester’s Galpin Call-in, the student body’s response to racism and the apparent lack of administrative action against racism and support of marginalized groups on campus. The administration agreed upon many of the demands student organizers created, including demand 17 of Section V which states, “All groups representing people of color should have a provided space for their own private use for the purpose of better serving their targeted community.”
For the ASU and the Organization of Latin American Student (OLAS), formerly known as Proyecto Latino, this demand manifested in the form of their own program houses. Cornelius Gyamfi ’19, the president of the ASU, explained the excitement he and members of the ASU felt when they learned they were receiving Troyer House as a program house for this school year. “Meetings could be held, memories could be shared and ASU felt like we gained solid recognition on-campus that would enable minority students, ASU members or not, to feel like they had a safe place on campus,” he said.
“Since we received the house, we have been able to more comfortably hold meetings and have events. A house is something that the organization really needed, and because of it, I feel that the Latinx community has become stronger,” Jorge De Leon ’20, co-president of OLAS said on receiving Avery House this year.
However, despite the accomplishments that came from the Call-in, some leaders of these multicultural organizations still feel as if their voices are not being heard.
As with other houses on campus, the residents of both Avery and Troyer houses have dealt with structural problems with what is supposed to be their safe spaces. Avery House has required repairs on a door, windows and stairs. Additionally, the size of the house is a concern to members as well. “The house is a very tight fit, and I am concerned that we will not have the space for culture sharing events open to all students,” De Leon said.
The most notable issue in program housing this semester has been Troyer House flooding due to a leak. According to residents of the house, there have been multiple problems with Troyer that were brought to the attention of Residence Life prior to the flooding. For Christian Betre, former president of the ASU, this was disheartening. “What happened recently with our house is really one of the things that makes me think do they really care about us on this campus? We gave [Residence Life] awareness about what was happening before the summer … and nothing happened over the summer, so during the school year we went several times. Nothing happened again, and once a huge thing happened, that’s when they started to actually pay attention to us.”
The concerns multicultural organizations have are not exclusive to housing. A lack of interest and support from other departments on campus is another primary concern of multicultural organizations.
“I definitely feel like the Budgeting Committee and Student Activities aren’t really concerned about BWO [Black Women’s Organization] so I feel like they can be more active in reaching out especially when it concerns them doing activities for multicultural organizations,” said Chrissy Howard Smith ’20, co-president of the Black Women’s Organization.
Recently, there has been a push to further support and engage with the College’s multicultural organizations. The Multicultural Coalition is a new effort to connect multiple student organizations, particularly those that cater to minority and international students and facilitate relations between groups. “This is important because many multicultural organizations have similar goals and this coalition helps them recognize that they can work together to put on amazing events for the Wooster community,” said Korri Palmer ’20, a student who assisted in the development of the Multicultural Coalition.
The Campus Council (CC) is also making strides to improve the situations student organizations may find themselves in. Betre, who is also the International Representative of CC, said, “I know me and Robert [Dinkins ’19] and Stachal [Harris ’20] are trying to find ways to support and be a voice for multicultural organizations, so we do have the Multicultural Coalition to see if they have ways they can support one another and just have that chain of support. So we have that in place where we would also relay that information to Campus Council.”
She went on to say that the administration might not always consider the diversity within the community of people of color on campus, with many students having differences in their upbringing, culture and social levels. “I feel like there isn’t that much of a distinction there. Like, they know that it’s there, but they don’t know how to provide resources to accommodate those students. So we [CC] try our best to relay — as the group of student representatives we try to be honest when we relay — and try to get real problems out on the table to so they can help us brainstorm and come up with different solutions to those problems to a certain extent,” she said.
The student leaders provided ways that the College can make positive changes in order to support their organizations better. One primary way is through more departmental involvement in the organizations outside of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), which was consistently cited as the primary if not the only source of support for multicultural organizations. This could look like alerting the leadership of these organizations about resources they can use to better plan and facilitate events they host throughout the year.
Additionally, some argued that the College could diversify their staff to help with communication issues. Howard Smith said, “I think the best thing they can do is hiring a person of color into Student Activities in order to give our perspective on things … so we won’t just have to go to [the] CDI to avoid the hassle and everything.”