SGA ELECTIONS: MARCH 27, 28

 

 

Racial tensions still exist, black students say

This is the first part of a three-day
series.

By MEREDITH LITTLE
Senior Staff Writer

Although UK is more racially in-
tegrated now than ever, some ten-
sions still run high between black
students and their white counter-

parts.

 

In a recent interview at the Mar-

tin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Cen-
ter, several black students ex-
pressed their opinions about the
state of race relations at UK, and
shared experiences about being
black on a predominantly white
campus.

“One of the problems I see is
that when people say integrated
they expect you to leave your cul~
ture behind and conform to what
they're doing,” said Eboni Neal.

Daryle Cobb. president of the
Black Student Union, talked about
being the only black person in a
classroom.

“It’s a big shock and it’s fright-
ening, to be honest with you, to
walk into a classroom for the first
time and know that you are the
only minority in the whole room
and everyone’s staring at you."

During the course of the inter-
view, a changing group of five to

15 black students gathered, many
of them listening and agreeing with
the stories a few of the students
had to tell. They all agreed that
giving up black culture seems to be
a condition for acceptance on the
UK campus, socially and in the
classroom.

Ramonda James, a resident ad-
visor at Boyd Hall, agreed there is
an attitude among white students
that a black person must “act

MCHAEL CLEVENGER'Ke'r‘el Sta'l

Junico Boyd, 3 business and office technology junior, and Nathan Mack, a finance and marketing sophomore, dlSCUSS notes yesterday
at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center in the Student Center.

white” to be accepted.

“You’re still a black person, but
if you talk white or if you act white
or dress white, then they’ll accept
you," James said. “But if you try to
promote your African culture, they
have a problem.“

Some students disagreed on
what “acting white" is.

James said that talking white
means talking properly, without us«
ing slang. “I don’t understand how

that means you’re talking white,
but that‘s one of the big ones I’ve
always heard," she said.

“Some people buy into that and
say I‘m going to act this way' and
not be true to themselves," Cobb
said in an earlier interview.

He said many black students
can‘t accept givmg up their culture
to fit in on campus. “You have to

See STUDENTS . Page 6

Reform, new courses
key to improvement

By JULIE ESSELMAN
Senior Staff Writer

Countering a growing perception
that college course work is ground-

ed in a white, Eurocentric perspece »

 

tive, UK has made moves to add .

courses to its curriculum that tocus
more on blacks.

Some students. faculty and ad-
ministrators say the efforts don‘t
go far enough, while others claim
that black experiences and cortlrie
butioris are already covered in ex
tsting courses.

"If we're going to take a special
i/ed approach tin higher educa-
IIOIll, then certainly the African-
American tradition has to be dealt
with tn the same way." said Chesv
ter Grundy, assistant director of
Minority Student Affairs. “But we
can’t doyustice to such a rich tradir
lion lUSl devoting a portion of a
survey course to it. We’re talk~
mg multiculturalism. but it has to
be reflected in terms of the educae
iional system."

However, Chancellor tor the
Lexington Campus Robert Hemcn-
way said that “faculty are quite
properly conservative about re-
form. The key is for individual
faculty members to be open."

Several departments now offer
courses that specrfically address

black concerns For IIl‘=l.tIlCC. List
year the history department hired a
black professor who now teaches a
course in African :\lll‘sTlc;lll histo-
r}. The i:n_L'll\Il dcparttiient o fan
on .\la_ior Black Writer.
and Studies in Blagk \itzeri,.’in l at
crature

'llie politi,;il science
has brought to :antpu-
Hanks. from the ltl\l‘.t'.'t‘c‘ Ei‘. "
lute, to teach a course on Ititk
Polittu. Null th: ant tropology .Ll
partinent offers courses on sub
Saharan African tolleec t-t‘
fine arts plans on offering a courw
soon on African-Ainerican tlieatn

Numerous other courses lht‘llltl..‘
African \mcrican issues or iontr:
butions. tor instance.
American literature that look at the
writings of 'l'oni \lorr'son or Ralph

classes

departriieitt

i .:w rcii ,

l he

t'i‘llflCS (W.

See CURRICULUM Page 8

 

Robertson visits UK
as search continues

By CAROLINE SHIVELY
Staff Writer

The third candidate for UK dean
of students met with the President’s
Board Roundtable last night for the
first in a series of interviews for the
position.

Don Robertson, one of four final-

1, Bernard Shaw. Cable
i News Network‘s principal
Washington anchor,
gives the 14th annual
Joe Creason lecture at
the Otis A. Singletary
Center for the Arts to-
night at 8 pm. It is free
and open to the public.

.,
l.
l
l

Skidmore
leads Ten-
nis Cats
into action.

Story,
Page 7.

Diversions...,...., ...........,...3
Sports ............................. 7
Viewpoint. . ., ..8
Classifieds ........................ 9

 

 

 

 

ists for the position, said it was “sig-
nificant that this first interview was
with a student group. That says that
the Dean of Students Office is held
in the proper perspective."

Robertson will spend today in
scheduled interviews with faculty,
administrators and other student
leaders. He will spend tomorrow
viewing the campus and “dropping
in“ on campus organizations, he
said.

Robertson is now associate dean
of student affairs at Marshall Uni-
versity in Huntington, W.Va.

The two other finalists to have
met with students and administra-
tors are George Jones, dean of stu»
dents of Livingstone College at Rut-
gers University, and Charlotte
Davis, director of University Un-
ions and Student Activities at Vir-
ginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University.

David Stockham, acting dean of
students at UK, will be interviewed
tomorrow and Thursday. The new
dean of students will begin working
July I. If Robertson is chosen for
the position, he said he will bring
with him a “diverse backgrOund."

“I think my background is impor-
tant.” he said. “I work well with stu-
dents of all types, from the most ac-
tive students to the most
conservative. I can build bridges be-
tween (different people) and I‘m
good at planning and accessing pro-
grams."

Robertson's vision of the Dean of
Students Office is a “very pro-
active, open office where students
are very confident, a place they
know they can come to and feel
welcome," he said.

 

 

 

MEET THE CANDIDATES

 

 

Collins’ desire:
serve students

By MARY MADDEN
Assistant News Editor

Exhibiting a sincere interest in
servmg her fellow students, Chris-
ta Collins will be one of the first to
tell you that there is room for
change in UK‘s Student Govem-
ment Association.

Collins. a speech pathology jun-
ior, has been very active in SGA
since she was a freshman, but that
hasn't blinded her to flaws in stu-
dent government. She said her ex-
tensive SGA experience makes her
the most qualified of this spring's
presidential candidates to bring
that change.

From budget reform to stream-
lining of the executive branch,
Collins offers several ideas for im-
proving SGA.

“Student government has a lot
of good programs and it‘s got even
greater potential. We recognize
that We want it to be even greater
than it is,“ she said.

But after talking to the Villa
Hills, Ky., native for any length of
time, it becomes clear that her
biggest concern is the welfare of
UK’s students. It is apparent not
only in her reasons for running for
SGA president but also in the rea-
sons shc became involved in stu-
dent government three years ago.

“I enjoy working with the stu-
dents. I like to be around my class-
mates," said Collins, a member of

Alpha
social

Kappa
Theta
sorority.

Helping stu-
dents has been
her priority at UK, and in the pro-
cess the students have helped her.
[00.

“I've enjoyed this (SGA) expe-
rience a lot. The neatcst thing I've
found at the University is Just be
ing opened up to so many differ-
ent people, types of personalities.
Cultures, religions and back-
grounds," she said. “That's really
the number one thing that I can
see that I’ve gotten from the Uni-
versity atmos-
phere."

Collins. 20.
said she made
the decision to
run for SGA's
top spot -~— not
Sean Lehman,
SGA president
for almost two
years and, ad-
mittedly, one of her mentors.

As the only candidate among
the four with the label SGA “in-
sider," Collins has not criticized
SGA as heavily as her opponents.
Instead, she prefers to build on
what already exists. changing only
what she knows needs impmvc-
merit.

a s.

COLLINS

See COLLINS. Page 4

Campaign

’91

Clark’s pledge:
listen to voices

By GREGORY A. HALL
Ser‘tor Sta“ Writer

‘\s a lctinglon ('oriinttinitx
College student. Keith (‘lark .1
candidate for Student (.itwernment
Association president, carries a
stigma of sorts.

.»\t Sunday‘s debate between the
four presidential candidates. (‘lark
was separated front the other three
main campus candidates. Their
iiameplates had bright blue “I iK‘K
on them. Clark‘s had a red “H‘C”

indeed. Clark. a sophomore.
said one of his hopes in this candi-
dacy is to 'IICVIZIIC this kind of
separation and
give LCC stti«
dents a voice in
lian't‘l'HI)‘ .tl-
fairs.

But, Clark
said he would
be “unbiased to-
wards all organ-
iiations" as
SGA president.

In Clark's SGA administration.
“majority niles," he said. What the
students want is what Clark wrll
suppon A, regardless of which
campus students come from. he
said.

Being in the majority was not
something Clark knew a lot about
growtng up in Detmit.

“Back home. no one talked
about politics.“ Clark said. “Eve-

talked

survi-

r‘ylmth
about
\ :tl. ‘

(‘lark said
‘he reason he
suntved. beyond intangibles like
luck. was his religious beliefs

(irowmg tip in Detroit Clark
~-.ttd people told him that he would
not survive

littl llt‘ did.

Clark. 3.8.
He and ferona Clark were mar-
ried Nov. to He plans M enroll
on the main campus in HM MIT.
and inaior in business administra-
tion,

He now works tor tl‘t‘tmrlox‘s
as a waiter. but he \illtl he would
resign there ll he were elected
president

When he came to l (‘(‘ two
years ago, he was encouraged to
run for SGA senator because he
was told he is a good listener. but
he said he thought there was “no
way in hell someone would vote
for me for senator.“

\fter being elected. Clark asked
his advisers “please educate me“
on how to be a senator He now
believes that. With vice presiden-
tial ninning mate Brandon Smith.
he has the ability to represent
lIK‘s student body as president

"ll I feel that I cannot do the iob
effectively then I wouldn‘t run

CLARK

is .i former \l.trtne

See CLARK. Page 5

 

 

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