What Does the Community at Allegheny Look Like?

The second official Community at Allegheny meeting took place tonight at the Tippie Alumni Center. Community at Allegheny is a group that grew out of the demand for administrative action after the open forum on October 3^rd. The first meeting consisted of students, faculty, and administrators stating what we felt problems to the community on this campus were. At the beginning of tonight’s meeting, we were handed a list of the things discussed in the first meeting, and a list of good listening and discussion practices for groups like ours.

We started out in small groups, and were tasked with finding one issue that we all felt like we could stand behind. Each group was organized with a mix of students, faculty, and administrators. Though I came to the group thinking about transgender rights, and what I specifically could bring to the table, we went with the broader issue of “Student Safety”. I identified the issue of personal safety to JoeD as the issue that is driving national and global efforts against racism, specifically in regards to the Mike Brown and Eric Garner cases.

We identified many ways that students feel unsafe of campus. A woman of color in my group noted that not one email was sent to the student body in regards to the decisions of non-indictment in either the Mike Brown or Eric Garner cases. She said she was feeling unsupported by the administration as a human being. JoeD said that the student-wide emails are generally sent to deal with local problems that affect the students directly, but it was brought up that these issues do indeed affect our students directly, particularly in the level of safety they feel on campus. We also mentioned that the diversity of the security officers on campus needs to reflect the student body, because many people of color on this campus feel uncomfortable with the 11 white guys that we have.

The recent events surrounding police brutality might feel like they are distant to some students on campus, but that’s not an option for black students. Even if black students can feel safe on this campus, some of my friends worry for their family members who are growing up and living in violent cities with oppressive police forces. But black students can’t always feel safe on this campus. Yik Yak has only highlighted the immense racism on this campus, and the only people using it are 18-25 year-olds who are apparently the least racist generation to date. The amount of racism and institutional apathy for black students from the administration also directly adversely affects students on this campus. The protests, speeches, and actions done and taken by, and in solidarity with, black students on this campus come from a system of oppression that is frightfully real for students of color.

I brought up the fact that the all-gender bathroom in the CC was relocated to the most inconvenient place possible and the all-gender bathrooms we do have are not easily accessible. I also brought up that coming out to your professors in front of a class full of students, especially after your assigned (not preferred) name and pronouns have already been called can be deeply troubling for trans students. These kinds of acts make trans students feel less safe and accepted on campus. A very simple way to fix the second problem would be to have every professor email all of their students before classes begin and ask them for their preferred name and pronouns (or specifically, what they want to go by in class, because not every trans student is willing to be out to all of their classes and/or passes such that they are comfortable doing so).

The Allegheny website lists two gender neutral bathrooms on campus here. This is not even close to an exhaustive list. One thing I’d like to work on personally is putting together a map with all gender neutral bathrooms on campus clearly labeled. I would also like an explanation as to why there is still orange tape blocking the ramp entrance into Oddfellows, when construction ended very near the beginning of the semester. This campus is not accessible to disabled individuals. This Allegheny page starts off by defending the college’s poor accessibility from the age of our institution. They offer an accessibility map, but warn that it may be out of date due to ongoing construction projects.

Once it was time for the groups to get back together and present their ideas/demands/issues to the group, things started getting more heated. Many groups felt the lack of administrative transparency is the largest (or farthest reaching) issue facing our campus community. Administrators felt that some of the things suggested by the students, such as names and contact information of administrators, was already provided. Many students expressed that they had never heard this information before, it is not widely advertised, and they aren’t even sure who to look for or where. Many students, including myself, learned a lot about the structure of the administration from this meeting, knowledge that is supposedly easy to access.

Many students expressed frustration with the extra-curricular responsibilities on our shoulders with regards to social justice work. We feel that our oppressions on campus come from the administration (and the administration’s tolerance for student bigotry) and as such it should be on the administration’s shoulders to change the way this institution treats marginalized students. It should also not be entirely on the Center for Intercultural Advancement and Student Success. CIASS is a great resource for marginalized students on campus, but they are not equipped or staffed to deal with changing this institution as a whole, and it should not be entirely on the shoulders of our faculty of color to stand up for marginalized students.

After the meeting was technically over, the group that was left identified the main themes of the meeting, with room for people to speak up for direct action steps that can be taken. I brought up two points in front of the group. It was very stressful, considering I also came out to all of them, but rewarding. I am very proud of the people around me. I have fortunately surrounded myself with a group of people who love and support me, and actively campaign for other marginalized bodies on this campus, pushing me to be better as well.

The Community at Allegheny group will come out with a list of action steps by January 1^st.