成为更好的, 贝洛伊特的行动计划以反种族主义和平等工作为中心, 去年正式成立, 感谢一组学生, 教师, 以及行政领导. 这些愿望建立在悠久的历史之上.
学生反种族主义活动, 特别是, 几十年来一直是校园生活的一个突出特点, and the efforts of 贝洛伊特’s Black students to be seen and heard have created change.
在 1960s, 贝洛伊特 student activists began mobilizing on campus and beyond.
One of the earliest was Jim Zwerg’62, a white student from Appleton, Wis. Inspired by his friendship with his Black roommate Bob C艺术er’62—a student of Dr. King’s nonviolent teachings—Zwerg enrolled in an exchange semester at historically Black Fisk University, then joined the Freedom Rides to force bus integration in the Deep South.
In May 1961, he and fellow peaceful protesters were beaten by a white mob as they left a bus. 茨威格被打得满身是血的照片出现在报纸上 《十大菠菜台子》杂志 在全国各地的报纸上, 在全国范围内提高民权意识, 和伯洛伊特, 然后是保守的校园.
几年后, 贝洛伊特 students raised money to send eight of their own to the Selma to Montgomery march for civil rights. There, local authorities attacked marchers on what became known as Bloody Sunday. 关于 175 贝洛伊特 students who could not go to Selma rallied in sympathy, embarking on a 50-mile march from 贝洛伊特 to Madison one frigid March day in 1965.
In 1969, the Afro-American Union of students posted flyers across campus with a 12-point list of Black Demands aimed at President Miller Upton and his administration. 这些要求包括增加黑人教师和学生, courses with an “African and Afro-American” lens on the humanities, 关于黑人概念的必修课, 为黑人学生提供生活空间.
69年迈克尔年轻, 他是美国黑人联盟的主席, 带头冲锋, 参与工会与大学管理人员的谈判. Upton and some 教师 members resented the group’s method of action and their choice of the word “demands.而发现许多不可能实现或不合理, 他们最终同意制定一些法律, 与妥协.
The groundbreaking 1969 Black Demands spurred later demands at 贝洛伊特, 包括1994年新成立的黑人学生联合会, 2015年再次获得学生包容性校园奖.
6月17日, 2020—weeks after the murder of George Floyd and at a time of reckoning over racial violence—BSU sent a letter to the college reiterating and adding onto the 1969 demands. 在回应, 贝洛伊特学生会修订了学生文化声明, committing to addressing the demands and other cultural norms in the pandemic’s wake. The college used students’ 2020 demands to frame and develop measurable goals in the 变得更好的行动计划.
综合课程运动
Twenty years after the Afro-American Union issued the first Black Demands, students brought renewed attention to the lack of diverse content in their courses.
1990年2月, 学生 for an Integrated 十大菠菜台子 Curriculum (SIBCC) reprinted the 1969 demands in the 圆桌, noting that the college’s curriculum and racial makeup had barely changed.
A few weeks later, a banner stating “Half an education is not enough!在皮尔森斯大厅上空挥手. SIBCC claimed responsibility for it and for a survey asking students how they felt about 贝洛伊特’s commitment to racial diversity. 研究结果发表在《菠菜白菜吧》杂志上 圆桌，揭示了一个严重分裂的校园. 没过多久, SIBCC released its own demands—aimed at 教师—to diversify the curriculum and include mandatory resources created by people of color.
SIBCC and its supporters organized a rally in front of Pearsons Hall in late March. 约300人参加了会议, with students and 教师 speaking about the importance of an integrated curriculum.
While other campus conflicts overshadowed the call for an integrated curriculum that spring, 秋天，学生们再次发出了自己的声音. SIBCC’s demands were put to a 教师 vote in November 1990 and passed by a wide margin.
密西西比州的贝洛伊特辅导中心
在 贝洛伊特计划(1964-1978), students were required to take Field Terms away from campus to apply what they were learning.
In 1966, after Drex Godfrey’68 witnessed rural poverty during a Field Term in 小姐issippi, he lobbied for the idea of a tutoring program for Black youth and undereducated adults in Cleveland, 小姐. 它被认可为一个专业术语.
That opened the door for the 密西西比州的贝洛伊特辅导中心, 一个完全由学生发起和运行的操作. 当年春假期间，贝洛伊特人准备好了这个中心, equipping its three rooms in the Cleveland Community Center with desks, 椅子, 供应, 还有书要借.
中心, 一直运行到1968年, tutored hundreds of children and adults in small groups from sunup to after sundown, 每周五天. Volunteers drove a converted bread truck to bring their Black pupils to majority-white schools in the morning and gave informal lessons on Black history, 阅读, 艺术, 白天和晚上的其余时间都在打字.
69年迈克尔年轻 was one of many volunteers whose lives were changed by the experience.
Young’s exposure to rural poverty in the South also opened his eyes to activism. 来自芝加哥南部的历史专业学生, Young was the Afro-American Union’s chairman when the group released its Black Demands in 1969. 当时, 他是大四学生, 足球队的副队长, 也是Theta Pi兄弟会唯一的黑人成员.
当他被选中在毕业典礼上做学生演讲时, he delivered an unflinching address about the systemic inequities affecting Black communities.
