Ray Whitehouse/The Daily Northwestern
Before interviewing for the job of director of African-American Student Affairs at Northwestern, Shadra Smith made sure she read up on the 87 black freshmen who entered NU last year.
Although she came from the Pennsylvania College of Technology, a school where a multicultural student affairs department didn’t even exist, Smith said she felt well-matched for the challenge.
“When you come into a new job where you know there are questionable things, you want answers,” Smith said. “Northwestern was very open in saying ‘Yeah, we’ve had some problems with admissions but we’re working toward it, and we think a position like yours and Multicultural Student Affairs is definitely a valued department in dealing with that.'”
This year, 150 black students are enrolled in the class of 2013, Smith said.
Smith replaced Shawna Cooper-Gibson, who left NU in spring 2008. Smith’s NU career is beginning on the coattails of a “challenging year” for the African American student community, said Director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs Christian Yanez, who sat on the search committee to fill Smith’s post.
For Members Only Coordinator Marrion Johnson echoed Yanez’s sentiment and said the lack of AASA leadership last year was deeply felt by the African American student community.
“The director is essentially an advisor to many of the black student groups and is our voice for our concerns to the administration,” the Communication senior said. “Without a director we didn’t feel our concerns were being heard and we didn’t think we were being led very well.”
Medill junior Tiffany Walden, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and BlackBoard magazine, said Cooper-Gibson’s absence “caused a lot of issues and placed a lot of work on other people in the Black House.”
As MSA took on Smith, its former director, Carretta Cooke, resigned after students complained to administrators about her failure to communicate with the multicultural student community. She is now the assistant to Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis.
The search process for a new AASA director was drawn out last year as MSA staff, multicultural students and the administration struggled to reach a consensus, Johnson said.
He said although Banis had the final say in Cooper-Gibson’s replacement, there was still plenty of back and forth.
“Students liked certain people, the staff liked certain people, (but) sometimes Banis didn’t and then the other way around,” he said.
By the time Smith was interviewed, Johnson said, a lot of frustration had grown among students. To him, Smith stood out for her prioritization of students’ interests.
“What I liked most about her was her understanding of her role and how it coincided with staff and administration – but as an advocate for students,” he said.
Yanez agreed that Smith would be a strong liaison between students and the administration and said he sensed this while interviewing her.
“Shadra had a great passion to work with students, and you knew she brought a lot of her own experiences as a student with her too,” he said.
Johnson said he sees this year as a “fresh beginning” for the black student community. He said he is heartened by the increase in enrollment of black freshmen from last year, but he added this number is not an increase from previous years and is nowhere near the numbers the University saw during the 1970s and 80s.
Minority enrollment remains an important focus for AASA, Smith said. But she also wants to see students who are already here branch out to new places on campus.
“I love that the students of color have a place like the Multicultural Center or the Black House where they can come and feel comfortable; however, I think sometimes being uncomfortable helps you learn,” Smith said, adding this outreach could mean anything from holding an AASA leaders meeting at Hillel or inviting professors to hold discussions at the Black House.
Walden said she would like to see more unity within the black community on campus.
“I feel like you can’t expand if you as a community aren’t unified yourself,” she said. “A lot of people come into Northwestern and then go off into their own little groups, not recognizing that they are part of the black community. I want to see (Smith) emphasize bringing people together.”
