The Galpin Call-in was a protest I had the opportunity to plan and lead. Looking back on it from a year later, I am seeing a lot of great things that came about because of it. The African Student Union and the Organization of Latin American Students were able to get a house to have their meetings. We had our first round of cultural competency training for incoming first-years. While it has been chalked up to a complete disaster, I am happy that the school was able to take our criticism and plan to offer a different training from a different organization this coming year. The Center for Diversity and Inclusion was able to get a sum of money that allowed them to offer different programs and opportunities for students both on and off campus. While we still do not have free storage for international and low-income students, we are offering the storage at a reduced rate and efforts are continually being made by Res Life to find better options. The website is still going through the process of making translations.
The Galpin Call-in offered me the opportunity to be a leader and a voice for many students on campus. I do believe I was able to do a good job, but hindsight is 20/20. With that being said, I do feel like if I had the opportunity to change some of the tactics and strategies, I most would have. One of the biggest regrets of the Galpin Call-in was the lack of various student groups’ input, specifically those of the LGBTQ+ community, and particularly those of color. I also would have done more to prevent personal feelings from getting in the way of the bigger picture. I would have liked to be more of a bulldog in hounding the school on follow-up of the demands. I know that this is nowhere near the protest to end all protests in Wooster’s history. As long as Wooster continues its mission of increasing diversity and inclusion, there will always be a set of rules or structures in place affecting those who are a part of those diverse groups. I myself used the Galpin Takeover in 1989 as a base for this protest.
Here are some thoughts to the student who is planning a protest sometime in the future reading this article in Special Collections.
1.) Have a clear goal in mind when going into this protest. The people who planned the Call-in had a goal in mind, and we accomplished it; everything else was just icing on the cake. We know what that goal was and so we may have felt successful, but that goal was not shared with the broader community. So not everyone will feel the same way. In order to foster a diverse and inclusive community, you must include the people whose voices are not always heard.
2.) Be aware of what exactly is going into whatever is going to be used to present your ideas. Whether it be a video or a list of demands like we arranged, you should be very particular about what goes into it. While giving names does give a certain power, people come and go, and institutions are what we should particularly talk about within the presentation. I personally believe this is one of the reasons why the school never officially circulated the shared document on their part to the community. If we were more particular, or even tactful, perhaps this could’ve been different.
3.) Plan to be brave.
We were able to accomplish much through the Galpin Call-in; I encourage the full participation within social justice participation. I encourage you to continue to hold administration accountable. Wooster is a place of much love, but it still needs work. If you don’t do it, who will?
Robert Dinkins, Jr., a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at RDinkins19@wooster.edu.