Video by Gavin Nelson and Fabian Rosales<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBSC President Niya McAdoo and Vice-President Keir Rudolph formed the coalition in September 2020 after they met at a protest in response to the court decision to not charge officers for the death of Breona Taylor. Since September, the coalition has become very visible on campus through its movement to support and stand in solidarity with underrepresented students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, BSC led a week of protests in response to budget cuts to ethnic studies, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, and GTA salaries. The week was planned to also raise awareness of the lack of response from university administration following the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. McAdoo said the university’s silence perpetuated white supremacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, for McAdoo, the coalition represents more than just the students of color on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen it comes to things like these protests, I try to stress to people that even if you’re not a part of these specific communities that we’re highlighting, that doesn’t mean we\u2019re not also speaking up for your rights,\u201d said McAdoo. \u201cThere’s plenty of white students on campus, white faculty, white staff who are going to be affected by these changes that are happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protests on March 11 brought together leaders from the Black Student Coalition, Graduate Teaching Assistant Coalition (GTAC), and the DEI advisory board. The protest fell at the end of a four-day demonstration, led by the BSC and GTAC, aimed at raising awareness of the DEI and teaching assistant salary cuts. Each day featured a specific protest\u2014social media protest, Provost email flood, sidewalk chalking, and the BSC sit-in at Strong Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The protests brought students from all backgrounds to support and stand in solidarity with the BSC, GTAC, and other underrepresented populations on campus. Many protesters present, like sophomore Beth Lee, recognized their privilege and came out to help lift the voices of underrepresented students and employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[People of color] do so much for the community,\u201d said Lee. \u201cAs I white woman, I face some challenges but not anywhere near the BIPOC community. So I want to use my privilege to make KU a safe enough place for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solidarity was a common theme throughout the week, especially between BSC and GTAC. GTAC President Neill Kennedy attended the sit-in and said she sees the solidarity between the two coalitions as the most important part of the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe see [the Black Student Coalition\u2019s] issues as our issues,\u201d said Kennedy. \u201cWe believe cutting 40% of GTAs will diminish the ability to teach DEI courses at this university. It will diminish the ability of GTAs of color to have a job, for students of color to have mentors, and to be supported by this university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The week included a GTA protest in front of Strong Hall, which was attended by BSC members. Kennedy said up to 40% of the university\u2019s 1100 teaching assistants, mainly in ethnic studies, could be fired as a result of budget cuts on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GTA cuts affect every student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, according to Mazzy Martinez, a BSC member. With most classes and discussion sections in the College of Liberal Arts and Science taught by GTAs, Martinez said there is a good chance a student\u2019s closest mentor, ally, or supporter was a GTA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always say your coolest professor was probably a GTA.,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cThe person that made you feel the safest, was probably a GTA. They’re totally necessary as well as they\u2019re educators and also they’re working on their own because they\u2019re students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McAdoo said despite the lack of attention and inclusion on recent policy changes from the administration,BSC still has allies within the administration. During last Thursday\u2019s protest, Vice Provost of Student Affairs Tammara Durham and Vice Provost for Academic Success Susan Klusmeier met outside Strong Hall with McAdoo and Martinez to give their support for the coalition\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose [Durham and Klusmeier] have kind of been some individuals on campus who have been really strong allies and really strong supporters, and listening to us work and trying to work with us,\u201d McAdoo said. \u201cThey have been really open to having these conversations and hearing the issues that we’re having on campus, and I hope that that continues to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
BSC stands for so many communities across campus, but the general student population is needed to raise the voices of BSC and GTAC. Martinez said she would like to see more solidarity among the university administration and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven those that might not be affected by these cuts, might not be affected by the discrimination that happens on campus, need to understand that their space as mostly white people is contributing to how KU prioritizes white supremacy,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cAnd so just be involved and spread the word. Make your voice heard.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the average KU student, getting involved is as easy as taking some time to educate and spread the word across campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy said the university and the internet have the resources for students to learn about the groups on campus fighting against these cuts. She said in order to truly stand in solidarity, students need to understand, whether they realize it or not, that their place on campus impacts the university as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that’s one of the biggest steps, not just learning but unlearning things as well,\u201d said Kennedy. \u201cYou’re at university for a reason, so you might as well take advantage of those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The KU Black Student Coalition is working to make the university a more inclusive space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4332,"featured_media":77150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3731,3226,15],"tags":[8656],"class_list":["post-77148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cbi-arts-and-culture","category-culture-articles","category-featured-on-kjhk","tag-blm"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_2578.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4332"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77151,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77148\/revisions\/77151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}