Brandon Smith
By Brandon Smith, The Whetstone
During Wesley College president’s inauguration ceremony on March 23, President Clark spoke about Wesley being a family, how we work together as a unit and build each other up as a student body.
As he spoke I could not help but contradict his speech because I know the underlying truth. I asked myself, if we are so much of a family, why are we divided as a campus?
When I attend evening events on campus, I always notice the obvious.
The dominant race of students who attend night events on campus are black students. Few white students attend nightly events unless they are a part of the hosting organization. There has never been an equal attendance of race at night events and I never understood why.
The two major races on campus are black and white. Those races alone are what create the elephant in the room.
Why do we claim to be a family when we attack and undermine each other?
The black student union posted fliers around campus to advocate the Black Lives Matter movement. I believe it is fair to say the message was strongly voiced, and it offended many white students.
Some students tore down the fliers and, to top it off, Delta Phi Epsilon posted its own sticky notes.
“All Lives Matter” sticky notes
As an African American student, I believe that all lives matter, but, sadly, I believe the note-posting of the sorority was a petty attempt to mock the BSU organization’s actions. As I read some of the notes I noticed one that said, “I matter because I love my dog.â€
I personally felt the sorority used its platform as a joke. The Black Lives Matter movement is and has always been a serious issue, and to try to undermine it disappoints me.
Students have the right to freedom of speech, but unlike BSU’s fliers, no one tore down the sorority’s childish post-it notes.
What happened with both organizations’ messages shows how divided we are as a campus.
