Marquette University's Fall 2022 academic year hasn't got off to a great beginning.
On Thursday, the Wisconsin Jesuit College held the first Convocation ceremony. However, the event turned sour when protesters seized the stage.
The interruption was due to the organization alliance Students of Color for Change. The group — that included Caucasians -on stage and displayed signs that read the following:
- More than a Statistic
- We Can Speak Up, Too
- Stronger Diverse Perspective
- We are Not a Token
- Hire More Diversity
- Lift Students of Color
In a prior Instagram announcement's caption, The Black Student Council (BSC) identified the cause of this protest. Marquette was disbanding its Office of Engagement and Inclusion. This was done without any explanation “unacceptable.”
More details from the WTMJ:
The BSC also stated that “it's absurd” that the university's Urban Scholars program has over 100 students, mostly students of color; however, there is only one full-time employee and there is no plan to hire an additional one until 2023.
BSC's online message that was addressed to students -it criticized the “lack of diversity and excessive tokenizing of students.”
What transpires is a lot of subjugation and oppression:
We would like to expose the oppression that is constant and the hardships imposed on and students who are of and of color. We are often overlooked and watched by the media, socially degraded and i ignored by (the) administrators.
It's a situation they'll combat:
Today, we will be adamant against this trend all over the campus. Therefore, we urge students to join us today and avoid attending the Convocation of today. In a manner of protest against our administration as well as the countless other groups who are complicit in our oppression.
The letter was concluded by the following quote, which is believed to be by Malcolm X:
“A new world order is in the making, and it is up to us to prepare ourselves that we may take our rightful place in it.”
One would've expected the disruptive students to be removed off the stage. Instead, for about 10 minutes, the administration accepted the protest. In the end, Provo and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kimo Ah Yun declared the ceremony was to be delayed.
In the wake of the incident, Marquette issued a defense to Milwaukee's Channel 4:
We are committed to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion on our campus.
The school attempted to convince critics who hate justice:
Due to our efforts to date that we are able to achieve, 70% of our current freshman class are students of ethnicity, the highest ever recorded in students' diversity. … Marquette has expanded its Urban Scholars program for first-generation and economically disadvantaged students in the Milwaukee region, and is already committing to hiring an additional full-time staff member for the program in 2023.
It turns out that the office that was at issue wasn't closed, in fact, it's actually a top priority:
Marquette has not closed its Office of Engagement and Inclusion. The support for this Office of Engagement and Inclusion as well as in the Division of Student Affairs remains top of the list as the school actively seeks out candidates to fill the vacant positions because of resignations. … The positions are likely to be filled in the coming semester.
The Christian school is of the belief that no one is not white or nonwhite:
Similar to his predecessors, the Marquette University Student Government]president was also invited to address the New Student Convocation because of his position as the leader of the student government for undergraduates. The assertion of being the sole one of the people of color to address the New Student Convocation is not accurate. Two of the Provosts, Ah Yun and Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Xavier Cole, who both identify as persons of color, were given speaking roles today at the Convocation.
America has taken an astonishing turn. In the past, the society was headed towards an unprecedented level of unity. Perhaps no one could have imagined our institutions would think it ideal to revisit those of the 1930s — and to teach our children that everyone was either white or not.
It's the way we're going, particularly in education. So, it's no wonder the demonstration at Marquette occurred because of an organization whose primary characteristic is its acceptance of all except those with a light complexion.
In addition, according to the campus paper Maquette Today, the fall 2021 semester saw the non-white student population increase to 34 per cent “rising from 30 percent in Fall 2020.”
If you're one of the parents and family members who are accompanying their children who are in Convocation as freshman, I hope they'll appreciate the experience of the Number Two ceremony to have been worth the effort.
To Malcolm X, might any protesters learn that the fact that he opposed the exact viewpoint they're advocating? It could be a less than secure option; learning from the past seems to be not something that can be done in the present.
