Baylor U. Students Take Action Against Racial Incidents

This story was written by Jade Ortego, The Lariat

Steps continue to be made to remedy who some consider a lack ofsensitivity regarding race on the Baylor University campus, which came to light afterincidents on Election Day, like the hanging of a noose. This week'sevents include an all-university prayer meeting and a silent march.

The Baylor NAACP and Baylor Association of Black Students ask allstudents to participate in a silent march at 9 a.m. Friday outside ofWaco Hall.

"The march is, first, to educate Baylor students on what happened,"said Prisca Anuolam, Cedar Hill senior and president of the BaylorNAACP. "There are a lot of stories floating around out there and wewant to get everyone on the same table."

The historical significance of the noose will be explained for those who may not know.

"We're going to have this segment so everyone understands why African-American students are angry about this," Anuolam said.

Lastly, Anuolam said that the march is to "show unity in themessage that we, as Baylor students, are not going to stand for thisand we're going to do something about it."

"[The march is to] make everyone aware that on the surfacethings can look ok, but they're not really," said Amy Letteri, PleasantValley, N.Y., senior and president of F.A.C.E.S.

F.A.C.E.S., or Fellowship Among Cultures, Ethnicities and Shades, is amulti-ethnic women's group that is participating in the march.F.A.C.E.S. is also part of a new coalition for diversity, which willalso include the NAACP, the Baylor Democrats, Project Dignity andStudent Senate.

Last Friday, Interim President David Garland sent out a second e-mailreiterating the university's condemnation of the racially chargedevents.

"These incidents do not reflect accurately the faith, values andcommunity of Baylor University. We have been intentional in ourprogress toward enriching the racial and ethnic fabric of ouruniversity," the e-mail said.

According to the e-mail, "contrary to some initial reports,police have not been able to produce any solid evidence thatObama/Biden campaign signs were burned in the barbecue pit adjacent toBrooks Flats.

Investigators have learned that what were originally reported to beObama/Biden campaign signs were actually empty computer boxes."

The "Frankly Speaking" weekly dialogue, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday,will focus on the events on Election Day. The meeting will be held inthe Fentress Room on the second floor of the Bill Daniel StudentCenter.

During Chapel Wednesday, the Bias Motivated Incident Support Team will give a presentation.

BMIST is a new group of faculty, counselors and studentsassembled to advise students that feel they've been the victim ofdiscrimination because of their race, gender, ethnicity, etc.

Later Wednesday night, Baylor will hold a prayer rally to addressconcerns about unity on campus. It will be at 4 p.m. in Miller Chapeland everyone is invited to attend.

"We expect other events to be announced in the coming days as we havefurther opportunities to meet with students, faculty and staff todiscuss how we should best approach questions of diversity on ourcampus," the Baylor e-mail said.