Northern Star Thursday, April 9, 2015
Volume 115, Issue 82
The Truth Shall Bear All Light
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Petition calls for Black Studies awareness Students petition to counter program prioritization fears Augustin Zehnder Staff writer T @AZehnder
DeKalb | A petition at the Center for Black Studies is calling for university administrators to ensure the existence of the center after the program prioritization process. The petition was started by students and addresses the lack of support for Black Studies within the larger NIU community, said LaVerne Gyant, Center for Black Studies director. Black Studies is an interdisciplinary program that studies the experience of black people in the United States. Gyant said she has “serious concerns” about how the department will fare during NIU’s program prioritization process. Prioritization involves a review of the university’s programs to determine mergers, cuts and increases in funding in accordance with recommendations from a task force. Gyant said the lack of support is detrimental to NIU’s mission because the Center for Black Studies and other cultural centers play a large role in helping minority students succeed academically. “Many of the students realize that they would not have been able to make it through NIU were it not for the center,” Gyant said. “Our institution is in many cases the lifeline for students of color.” Black Studies offers eight courses a semester. Students have expressed interest in adding more, but lack of funding and a consequent small faculty size limits what the center can provide, Gyant said.
Black Studies expansion The petition also calls for Black Studies to be kept as a minor and expanded into a major, increasing the amount of Black Studies faculty and instructors. Miki Grace, Black Student Union vice president, said if Black Studies becomes a major, faculty within the department might be able to
Ryan Ocasio | Northern Star File Photo
LaVerne Gyant (left), Center for Black Studies director, helps senior engineering major Krystal Wilson at the center. Students have created a petition to address the lack of support for Black Studies in the NIU community, Gyant said.
Alex LaBee | Northern Star
Kendra Fleshman, of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, writes during Monday’s “Dear White People” film showing in the Holmes Student Center. Sigma Gamma Rho, which held the event, is one of the student organizations supported by the Center for Black Studies. Go to bit.ly/1y6U4cy for a list of student groups involved with the center.
influence the broader university into African American thought and curriculum to make it more diverse. experience,” Grace said. “We’d like more course curricuMaking Black Studies a malum, diverse books, authors who go jor would allow the center to
better serve students’ academic needs while challenging the perceptions students and faculty have about Black Studies as an academic
discipline, Gyant said. “Our challenge is having people on campus realize that Black Studies is a legitimate field,” Gyant said. “It’s not just a feel-good field. We are just as rigorous as other disciplines. That’s what students want to prove to the university.” BSU President Adewale Adetunji said one of the main purposes of the petition is simply to raise awareness of Black Studies. “A lot of students don’t know about the minor or the program period,” Adetunji said. Adetunji said it’s important for people from any background to have a knowledge of other cultures, and non African American students can benefit from learning about African American history and culture. Black Studies “is for the whole diverse NIU community,” Adetunji said.
Senator faces charges of leaking election info to Lupstein ticket Ashley Morse Staff writer T @amnorthernstar
DeKalb | A Student Associa-
tion senator who serves on the SA Board of Elections will face charges of disclosing election information to the Voice of Change ticket at a Sunday hearing. Screenshots of text messages
between Senator Jake Swick and Voice of Change members will be used as evidence against Swick at the hearing, said Senate Speaker Dillon Domke. Domke declined to comment on the content of the screenshots. The Senate will examine the evidence, hear Swick’s defense and decide whether he is guilty of
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disclosing election information. The hearing is open to the public. Swick was nominated to the Board of Elections by SA Senator Adolfo Sto Domingo a week after being appointed senator at large on Feb. 15. Domingo is a Sigma Nu member with Swick and Nathan Lupstein, who has since been elected president on the Voice of
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Change ticket. Swick and Domingo did not respond to requests for comment. Lupstein said he has faith in Domke’s and the other senators’ ability to have a “swift and efficient” hearing. “I’m confident that the Senate will make the correct and just decision,” Lupstein said.
If you go What: Student Association Senator Jake Swick hearing for charges of disclosing election info When: 6 p.m. Sunday Where: Student Association Senate meeting in the Holmes Student Center, Sky Room
Game of Thrones
Are you a fan of the Starks or are you a Lannister supporter? Go to Page 6 for Scene Editor Sabreena Saleem’s take on how season five of “Game of Thrones” will go (hint: There will be lots of death).