Cher Kornma
Contributing Writer
On Monday Oct. 18, the Black Manifesto was posted all over campus as a wake up call to admin, faculty and students about the grievances, trials and hardships Black people across campus face. This Manifesto, along with the growing areas of concern that were expressed in the town hall meeting that following Tuesday, shed light on the many ways the College of Wooster has neglected not only its Black students but its Black faculty as well. The opening poem of the Manifesto expressed deep exhaustion with the “placations” that continued to prolong and quell the concerns of Black students. The empty promises and the endless performative stances and words that have yet to resonate with Black people on campus have created a gap between what the students are no longer asking for, but are now demanding, and what the administration continues to peddle.
Like many Black students on campus, when I read the poem I saw a reflection of the frustration, exhaustion and defeat I too felt, looking back at me. I recalled moments over my last three years of being singled out in class, racially harassed on Beall and constantly dismissed, discredited and underestimated by my peers and professors, and it struck me that I also did not want to graduate from Wooster without trying to make it better for those that will come after me. The Manifesto sparked a level of passion in me that I forgot I had. A renewed sense of believing that change and action can happen. The Manifesto proved what action looked like. You see something? You find it unjust? Then demand change. Hold the school accountable for their promises of safety and equitable treatment. Ask the admin what they are willing to do about the fact that their previous efforts have continued to fail.
This is the disconnect that the administration failed to see. Telling students at a town hall dedicated to holding the school accountable that they are heard is frustrating. Telling students who face racially motivated agressions everyday that the school has done a lot to improve equity on campus, is frustrating. Telling students who are tired of asking for the same thing for years on end, that there are many ways that the school has improved, is frustrating. It is frustrating that students themselves have to ask for these basic forms of support. The town hall seemed at times to derail from the point of addressing the persistent anti-blackness that students face and moved to becoming a forum for administration to defend themselves. While I respect Sarah Bolton’s presence and attempt at listening to students, the town hall was mishandled and counterintuitive. The very thing that was staged for giving Black voices on campus a platform made Black students feel alienated. The Manifesto demanded action, and that is the immediate response it should have received in the first place.