How can student leaders provide safe spaces for their peers when their government has removed them?
Multicultural organizations on campus have had to reckon with this question after the implementation of Ohio Senate Bill 1 in June.
The bill, which includes slashing scholarship funding and eliminating degree programs, led to the closure of several diversity centers on campus, including the LGBTQ+ Center, the Women’s Center and the Student Multicultural Center.
Leaders of Sister Circle, the Kent State NAACP, Male Empowerment Network and Black Art Students United were suddenly tasked with filling the gaps left by SB1.
“BASU was created to be a safe space for students of color,” Elizabeth Brunner, president of the group, said. “Our organization is meant to offer catharsis during these forceful times.”
The same was true for the president of M.E.N., Jeff Chandler, who said, “With M.E.N., we give everybody that safe space to be vulnerable and let them know: ‘We’re here, and we got you.’”
As a result of eliminating designated safe spaces for students of color, SB1 also changed how leaders could reach out to students within these spaces.
“It’s been harder for students to find out about us after restrictions on certain programs such as K/T,” Za’Nya Henderson, president of the Kent State chapter of the NAACP, said.
Kupita/Transiciones was a tool multicultural organizations used for community outreach. It began in 1988 as an orientation for freshman and transfer students of color at Kent State.
“[The Multicultural Center and K/T] were a wonderful way for our students to form bonds and learn about each other’s cultures,” Brunner said. “Without them, it is important for us to all be purposeful about the connections we make these next years.”
Hosted by the multicultural center, the program ushered thousands of multicultural students onto campus, providing them with mentoring programs, the chance to foster connections and access to groups created for them.
“When I first got on campus, I went to K/T and met some of the girls from Sister Circle. It made me feel like Kent was the place I wanted to be,” Vice President of the organization, Quren Jarvis, said. “Especially with Kent being a PWI [Predominantly White Institution] and often feeling othered on campus, I hope that we’re providing that same support and community that I received through K/T and Sister Circle to young girls on campus.”
Leaders aim to not only create spaces where students can express their grievances, but also spaces where they are celebrated and can coexist peacefully with others like them.
“We are a safe space for them where they can voice their concerns and also leave them at the door if they want,” Amorae Lyles, president of Sister Circle, said.
For BASU, Brunner said she wanted students to have a space on campus dedicated to uplifting their success as artists, and its primary job this year was to offer students a positive voice on campus.
Leaders emphasized the importance of community in times like these.
“Numbers are important. If you can get other people to say the same thing as you, you can create change,” Jarvis said.
That sense of community among those wanting to make a difference provides needed comfort to students during these times, Henderson said. “When there’s community, you feel 10 times more supported than when you’re alone.”
Sydney Stevenson is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].