Wearing T-shirts with the phrase "His legacy lives on" proudly displayed on the back, the Reginaldo Howard Scholars gathered with other Duke community members in Reynolds Auditorium Saturday to commemorate their scholarship's namesake and discuss racial issues on campus.
The scholars organized the first Reginaldo Howard Day celebration, "Acting Black: Racial Identity at Duke," in honor of Howard, the first African American elected president of a University student government organization, who died in a car accident in 1976 before he could take office. The scholarship established in his name provides full tuition awards annually to five freshmen of African heritage who exhibit excellence in academics, service and leadership.
The scholars are currently working to transform their role on campus. "Last year, we decided we we were going to take a presence as a student organization and not just a scholarship group," sophomore scholar Brandon Hudson said. "We want people to know who we are, and we want to discuss student issues and what it means to be student leaders."
Hudson said the goal of Saturday's event was not only to acknowledge Howard and the scholars' contributions to the University, but also to stimulate broad student interest in alleviating racial tensions on campus.
Keynote speaker Sarah Willie echoed this sentiment in her speech, charging the audience to "be change agents in the university, through creative, unexpected and irreverent ways."
Willie, chair of the black studies program at Swarthmore College, discussed various racial issues that exist on campuses across the nation, including the debate over affirmative action and expressions of racism in campus media. She also remarked on the influence society's treatment of race has on university environments.
"The university is an institution that functions within the larger society and, as such, it reflects, incorporates and replicates the values, ideas and tensions that are present off campus," she said. "While an appreciation of multiculturalism is gaining ground, the ideology of white supremacy and patriarchy and resistance to the forfeiture of white privilege and male privilege remain with us outside the academy."
Despite the negative effects society can have on universities, Willie said through activism, universities can be positive models for society.
"Especially in the university setting, our ideals must include the pursuit of truth, honest exchanges of ideas and the demonstration of mutual respect," she said. "People have the right to the freedom of expression and they also have the right to have their persons respected. Living in a democracy presents us with the challenge of reconciling those two ideals. Those are ideals to which we can aspire and model for the non-academic world. And the non-academic world is in sore need of that ideal."
Willie also participated in a panel discussion with student and faculty representatives, fielding questions from the audience about racial identity at Duke.
Several students voiced concern about the concept of self-segregation on campus. Panel member Jacques Colon said the phrase "self-segregation" is in itself a problem.
"To say that self-segregation exists is to place the burden of integration on the shoulders of minorities alone," said Colon, a junior. "For integration to truly occur there needs to be a common understanding and respect of one another."
One student said she felt people are "satisfied to be separated" into race-specific communities because it minimizes contact with people who do not understand or respect diverse racial heritages. Willie countered these sentiments with her perspective on what constitutes a community.
"Community, for me, connotes the willingness to work with each other--even the people you don't like," she said. "It is a decision to be in a positive relationship with people."
Many students also expressed concern over the pressure they feel to "act black"--become the stereotypes other students perceive them to be or fulfill the roles fellow black students ascribe to them.
"It's not just external pressures we face everyday," sophomore Tommy Apara said. "We face internal pressures, too.... We put them on ourselves as if racial pressures from outside were not enough."
After the event, Hudson said the Reginaldo Howard Scholars hoped the issues discussed at the event would become launching points for student activism.
"We have the ability as students to make change," he said. "We want students to realize they are empowered. To combat racism and other race issues, we need to come together to create change."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.