By Julie FrenchThe Daily Northwestern
Tabitha Bentley couldn’t find a support network for minority students in the School of Education and Social Policy when she entered the school last fall. So she decided to start one on her own.
She and SESP senior Cass Chen launched Promote 360: A Cycle of Minority Empowerment and Support at the end of Winter Quarter to offer guidance to minority students in SESP.
Bentley, a freshman, said although she feels welcome as a black student in what she called the predominantly white SESP community, she also wanted the benefits a formal organization could provide.
Chen said they wanted to create a comfortable place for students of any color to address institutional barriers.
“Asians are not underrepresented in engineering, but they are in politics and social policy,” Chen said. “If the people in those positions aren’t diverse or representative of our diverse population, their policies aren’t going to be representative.”
So far this year, the group has hosted several social gatherings and a panel discussion with minority professors.
Next year, Bentley said the group wants to reach out to incoming freshmen, bring in speakers, host networking events with alumni of color and mentor area middle and high school students.
“Some of the people in the group are secondary education majors, so any place that fosters education or is geared around learning, we want to be there,” Bentley said.
She said she wants to make sure that students in all SESP concentrations can get involved, not just those concentrating in social policy.
“If there’s something we feel strongly about, of course we’re going to voice it,” Bentley said. “But we’re trying to stay away from focusing solely on policy.”
Though the group is entirely run by students, it received initial guidance from the administration, particularly Susan Olson, SESP’s assistant dean for student affairs.
“It’s very similar to the mission of the school,” Olson said. “SESP is about improving students’ lives, and that’s what this group is about, too.”
Although Promote 360 is primarily meant to empower minorities in SESP, the leaders encourage non-minority students and those outside of SESP to get involved as allies.
“Is this only for students of color? I think we need to be more intentional (in saying that) it’s absolutely not,” Chen said.
Weinberg freshman Erin Cunningham said she plans to join the group even though she is not a minority student.
“I think something the faculty tries to work on at Northwestern is making safe places for the minority and the majority to talk,” said Cunningham, who is in the process of transferring into SESP. “(Promote 360) is a good way to build relationships.”
Weinberg freshman Jorge Anguiano attended a Promote 360 social gathering and also expressed interest in joining the group.
“Any program or club that promotes interaction is important,” Anguiano said. “You never know when you might need a friend to work on a project or to help you out.”
Reach Julie French at [email protected].
