CAMPUS
2 | Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Living in your skin Black Student Association celebrates black students
COURTESY OF BSA
The Black Student Association, a student organization on campus for more than 20 years, celebrates black heritage beyond Black History Month.
MADDIE GEHRING Lantern reporter gehring.80@osu.edu Although Black History Month is drawing to a close, one Ohio State student organization focuses on loving one’s blackness year-round. The Black Student Association is the umbrella organization for all the black organizations on Ohio State’s campus, Kaelyn Sanders, a thirdyear in criminology and sociology and the community outreach coordinator for BSA, said. The organization has been on Ohio State’s campus for more than 20 years, putting on events once a week to give students an opportunity to celebrate their heritage. Sanders said BSA is an involved
living organization funded by University Housing, so the organization gets more money than other black organizations on campus and receives many requests from other student organizations asking for donations. However, BSA provides more than financial assistance. Ocean Coldren, a second-year in business marketing and special initiative ambassador for BSA, said the organization seeks to provide social support and community for black students. “BSA’s main goal is to create a safe space for students of color — especially black students of color,” Coldren said. Coldren said that she felt alienated during her freshman year on
campus. “I was like, ‘Where’s all the black people at?’” Coldren said. “And whenever I came to BSA, I was like, ‘Oh here they all are.’” Sanders said it’s important to be surrounded by other students with whom she can relate and feel comfortable. Coldren agreed. “We go to a [predominantly white institution] and we are only 6 percent black in our undergrad, and it’s really important to look around and see people that look like you,” Coldren said. Coldren said college is a struggle for anyone, making it important to be surrounded by people of the same race as it’s likely they might experience similar issues. Sanders said BSA’s goal is for students to live their blackness to the fullest, which is different for everyone. “Living in your blackness is essentially being who you are, being black and not being sorry about being black — whatever that means to you,” Sanders said. Coldren said there isn’t a right way or a wrong way to experience one’s blackness, and everyone is welcome to join BSA, not just black students. “Everybody has a place here, and everybody is important,” Coldren said. BSA holds meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday in the Hale Hall MLK Lounge.
CRIME MAP
Burglary, theft from a motor vehicle and more in this week’s crime map
ONLINE
New study shows preference for revenge over forgiveness MARY KIDWELL For The Lantern kidwell.118@osu.edu An eye for an eye might be easier than turning the other cheek, according to new Ohio State research on human cognitive processing. Research published in Sage Journals in December by Ohio State professor Matthew Grizzard and graduate student C. Joseph Francemone found that humans have a gut-level instinct to respond with retribution, but forgiveness in humans is learned. Grizzard and Francemone collaborated with the State University of New York at Buffalo, Texas A&M University-Texarkana and Culture by Numbers, a computer software development company.
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When we see those meaningful, thought-provoking stories, we generally kind of let go of our innate desire to see this punishment or vengeance kind of idea. C. JOSEPH FRANCEMONE Graduate student
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Grizzard, the study’s leading researcher, said participants read different scenarios and assessed whether they liked or disliked varying retribution endings — underretribution, equitable retribution or overretribution. The researchers then measured the participants’ response rates between reading the scenario and narrative ending to decide whether they liked or disliked the ending. “It just measures response rates … and so we are just asking them to press like or dislike as quick — basically as soon as they’ve made a decision,” Grizzard said. After choosing whether they liked or disliked an ending to the given scenario, Grizzard said participants were asked
