Today at noon, University of Alabama students are invited to participate in the Not Isolated March, which will proceed from the Malone-Hood Plaza outside of Foster Auditorium to the Ferguson Center as a peaceful demonstration to raise awareness of minorities’ rights in the campus community.
“It is time to make a statement about our campus and the type of collegiate environment that we both have and desire,” said Sean Hudson, public relations director for the Social Work Association for Cultural Awareness (SWACA), the group sponsoring the event in conjunction with several other campus organizations.
Though the march comes little more than a week after the chalking of racial slurs on Moody Music Building, Hudson said the inspiration for the event arose much earlier, from racial slurs yelled on fraternity row in the spring semester of 2011, racial and gender slurs chalked on the Quad also in spring of 2011 and gay-bashing on The Strip in the summer.
Supporters of the march argue that discriminatory acts such as these impede students’ pursuit of education and growth at the University. The Black Faculty and Staff Association confirmed this assertion in an issued statement, saying that the display of such prejudices “perpetuates an unwelcoming and hostile campus environment.”
“This is not an isolated problem,” Spectrum President Lauren Jacobs said. “This is not just about racism. There are problems with homophobia, sexism and other forms of discrimination.”
Adrienne McCollum, president of SWACA, said the best way to begin addressing the issue of discrimination at the University was to bring awareness to the campus community through meaningful demonstration.
“Everybody needs to come together, help raise awareness, and show that discrimination on any grounds is not acceptable,” she said.
Jacobs suggested taking the solution one step further. She proposed the creation of a forum to open up a dialogue on why these events occur and facilitate better understanding between students.
Both Jacobs and McCollum encouraged anyone interested in marching to come join in the demonstration. Poster-making meetings were held on the evenings on Sunday and Monday to get students involved early. Marchers will meet at the Malone-Hood Plaza at 11:30 to get ready and distribute signs before the march begins at noon.
“The whole purpose of this march is inclusion,” McCollum said. “We encourage all students to come out and show support for making this happen, even if they’re not part of a minority group. Having everyone walking with us will speak volumes and show that people really care.”
McCollum emphasized that the march was not an effort to bash the UA administration or the student body, but rather to publicly address the issue, a sentiment shared by Hudson.
“It should be stressed that UA is not a bad campus,” he said. “However, there are a number of individuals who refuse to acknowledge the issues and help build a more inclusive campus. The more we talk about the issues facing our campus, the more we can make strives to change the culture.”
Organizers predict the march will mark the first steps down the road toward a more accepting Capstone community.
“I believe that we can create a more harmonious campus environment,” McCollum said, “and the creation of that environment starts this Wednesday.”
