STEM RANKINGS RISE

‘4:44’ LISTENING PARTY

Yesenia Jones Correspondent Shawn Fredericks Correspondent

On August 29, the Women’s Center, in collaboration with the Black Male Initiative and the African American Cultural Center, held a listening session and discussion about Jay-Z’s newest album, “4:44.” The album featured Jay-Z’s opinions on black identity, wealth, and black love.

In addition to listening to the album, the “Footnotes for ‘4:44’” documentary was also shown. It featured celebrities speaking on topics such as black masculinity, education, and black life. The film included celebrities like Kendrick Lamar, Will Smith, and Chris Rock amongst others. Within the documentary, Jay-Z divulged intimate details on the making of the album, including playing it for his wife, Beyonce.

Angela Gay, graduate programming assistant in the Women’s Center, organized the event.

“When I first thought about doing a ‘4:44’ listening party, I was listening to ‘4.44,’ and I’m a big music person,” Gay said. “I was thinking ‘how do we create a space for people, in general, to come in and talk about some of these taboo subjects.’”

The conversation began with a presentation by new African American Cultural Center Director Moses T. Greene, detailing the depictions of stereotypical black caricatures. He spoke on how racism fueled the depiction of black people in media such as cartoons. He described black caricatures in cartoons such as the coon, the mammy, the buck, and the uncle tom.

Grene then moved the presentation on to discuss racism and ethnicity as social constructs and ended with a discussion on how black masculinity, and masculinity in general, are shaped by experiences and can be turned toxic through the enforcement of societal expectations of men. Toxic masculinity is a term that refers to the common inability of men to express their emotions and display vulnerability.

Some Jay-Z fans felt the recently released album was too vulnerable. One attendee of the event mentioned that in relation to the rest of his albums, “4:44” was a sign that the hardest rapper in the game was becoming soft.

In the title track ‘4:44’, Jay-Z said, “ I apologize, often womanize/ Took for my child to be born to see through a woman’s eyes.”

This is a far contrast from ‘Big Pimpin’, where Jay-Z raps, “Me give my heart to a woman?/ Not for nothin’, never happen; I’ll be forever mackin’/ Heart cold as assassins, I got no passion/ I got no patience and I hate waitin’/ Ho, get your a** in and let’s ride!”

Jay-Z’s album also featured songs such as ‘Kill Jay Z’ which spoke to an internal conflict many men face with their ego and the inability to admit to wrong doings. Other songs such as ‘4:44’ and ‘Family Feud’ discussed his own infidelity and his ability to “mess up a good thing,” such as his marriage.

At the event, one student mentioned that as a black woman she has always wanted her male partners to be open, honest and vulnerable. However, one of the leaders of the conversation brought up the point that when he told the truth to his girlfriend about his infidelity she decided to leave him.

One of Gay’s goals for this event was to provide a setting for discussion amongst people from intersectional identities in order to provoke thoughts and express opinions that would otherwise go unheard.

“When we talk about blackness and the African American experience, it’s always situated on race,” Gay said. “How do we talk about it in an intersectional way that allows us to explore what blackness and masculinity and all of the things that are perpetuated within that in a safe environment where people can feel that they can authentically express who they are and what they represent?”

One attendee, who did not identify as black, mentioned that society’s expectations of him also made it hard for him to express his own emotions in a productive manner especially since his father was absent.

The event helped attendees who weren’t black to empathize with black men and understand how systematic oppression and societal expectations shapes their idea of what a man is and how one should act.

One male student who also did not identify as black mentioned that the only emotion he was taught to express is anger and how this is a common teaching amongst young boys.

According to the objectives set by Gay and her team the event was a success. The women’s center will continue to host events to promote critical thinking, equality and equity. For a calendar of events, see their website at https://oied.ncsu.edu/divweb/ womenscenter/

See page 7 for an opinion column on the Black Masculinity

NC State’s Rise in stem ranking Penny Lawrence Staff Writer

On a list of universities named for being top producers of minority STEM graduates, North Carolina State was listed as number 24 out of 100 for the past academic year.

Being ranked 24th was for minority graduates getting bachelor’s degrees in engineering. For minorities getting master’s degrees in engineering, NC State was listed as number 36. For master’s degrees in mathematics, they were ranked as 15th.

According to Diverse Issues in Higher Education, for bachelor’s degrees in engineering, there was a 21 percent increase in graduates, with the total number of minority graduates being 264 from the 2014-2015 academic year. Ranked in first place was the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a total of 628 minority bachelor’s degree graduates in engineering.

When asked about this increase in minority graduates, William Ditto, the Dean of the College of Sciences accredited it to what he called sincerity. “We’d like to get those numbers to where they should be, representative of the population, but you don’t do that in a mechanical, dispassionate way. It doesn’t work if you aren’t genuine.” Dean Ditto said.

Dr.Jamila Simpson, Assistant Dean for Academic Programs, Student Diversity and Engagement for the College of Sciences attributes the rise to better academically prepared students, “Every year the SAT and GPAs of our incoming students increases. I believe we are seeing a combination of very academically prepared students and a campus which is eager to academically engage these students as well as culturally support them while they are here.”

“If we create a culture where either you don’t feel accepted or you don’t feel like you’re genuinely accepted, you’re going to know it real fast and you’re not going to want to be there. You’ll be uncomfortable or you won’t be as successful. What always works is to build trust, is to build an environment where everything we do reinforces that. Not in a fake or mechanistic way.” Dean Ditto said.

Making an inclusive environment that encourages minorities to pursue STEM degrees is something that you can plan to do logistically according to Dean Ditto. Something that the university has been doing is having open discussions to promote inclusivity and understanding.

The political climate has made things difficult for minorities, said Dean Ditto. Universities being more open and controlled environments might make coming to college a better option for minority students. “Even if we wanted to, we don’t have the luxury of not being diverse. We’re about creating new knowledge and exploring new frontiers and changing people’s’ lives.” Dean Ditto said.

NC State has always tried to make their own values and look to the future. [POSSIBLE EDIT: NC State has a long timeline surrounding its inclusivity of minorities on campus and in STEM programs, which can be found on the NCSU Libraries website. For example, in 1953, the first two African American graduate students were admitted into the School of Engineering. September of 1956 brought the first four African American undergraduates admitted to the university. One of these students was Irwin Holmes, who went on to become the first African American undergraduate student to receive a degree from the university in May of 1960. It was a B.S. in electrical engineering. In 1994, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) was established to advocate for the admission and inclusion of American Indians in science and engineering programs.]

Since the beginning, there were never any confederate statues on campus. “When they started this university in the 1800s after the Civil War, the Watauga Club, it was a bunch of young people. They said, ‘We’re not going to look back to the confederacy and that heritage.’” Dean Ditto said.