Northwestern may seem a little quieter today.
Leaders of student cultural groups, residents of Chapin Residential College and concerned students finalized plans Monday night to discourage minority students from speaking today, and encouraging them to wear only black clothing. The actions come in response to several hate crimes and incidents of bias in the last two weeks.
All students — regardless of their race — are asked to wear black Wednesday afternoon, leading to a “Stop the Hate” rally at The Rock at 5 p.m where organizers have asked students to wear NU apparel.
With minority students donning black clothes and shutting their mouths, the university community will recognize the contributions of “marginalized voices,” said Tracy Carson, coordinator of black-student alliance For Members Only. But instead of having students not show up for their classes, she added, the demonstration will “visually display” the importance of diverse perspectives in classes and dining halls.
It also is important to unite the campus for the cause, Carson said. Carson said judging by the number of letters The Daily published defending the recent anti-affirmative action bake sale organized by the NU Objectivist Club and members of College Republicans, many students aren’t taking the incidents seriously.
“At a time when people are getting beat up and people are seeing swastikas on their doors, it doesn’t seem important to defend conservative ideas,” Carson added. “You need to say, ‘Hey, there’s a hate crime going on, and it’s wrong whether I’m liberal, conservative or in between.'”
Ronnie Rios, one of the event’s organizers, explained the plan of action for today’s day of silence to a crowd of more than 150 students Monday night at the Multicultural Center during Latino student group Alianza’s general meeting. The crowd was so large that some students stood outside the building, peering through the windows to observe the meeting.
Administrators have worked diligently on intolerance issues on campus and now it’s time for students at NU to “take ownership” and change the university community, said Rios, a Weinberg senior.
“This is about the students,” Rios said. “And this time, we won’t let go — we’ll keep pursuing it because it’s our issue.”
The demonstrations are supposed to respond to the 10 reported hate crimes and incidents of bias that started last Winter Quarter, according to Associated Student Government’s Hillel Cultural Life Sen. Alex Lurie, one of the demonstration’s organizers. Lurie said the “scariest” instance of racial problems on campus happened early Saturday morning, when a Latino student was held at knifepoint by someone who whispered to him, “Spic, we didn’t run away this time.”
Since a variety of NU’s cultural and religious groups have been targeted in the previous nine instances, Lurie said, students realized it was time for all cultural groups on campus to unite.
“We needed a collective response to a collective problem,” said Lurie, a Weinberg sophomore. “We discovered that we must work together to face a communal problem and introduce it to the entire Northwestern community.”
Though just minority students have been asked to participate in Tuesday’s demonstration, anyone who wants to wear black on Wednesday should feel free to show support, organizers said.
Standing together
Cultural student groups are holding events this week to unite Northwestern in response to recent hate crimes and incidents of bias.
Today: Minority students are encouraged to dress in all black and remain silent throughout the day. At 10 p.m. there will be a meeting in Norris University Center’s Louis Room where presidents of all student groups, residence halls and greek houses will talk with administrators about the latest racist actions.
Wednesday: Students of all races are asked to wear black to show their solidarity. At 5 p.m. there will be an all-campus rally at The Rock, where students are invited to wear purple to symbolize community support for diversity.
