{"id":145472,"date":"2016-03-18T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=145472"},"modified":"2018-02-09T10:17:12","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T15:17:12","slug":"campaign-aims-to-raise-awareness-about-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/campaign-aims-to-raise-awareness-about-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign aims to raise awareness about racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Rochester students like Justin Delinois \u201919 the sentiments captured in a University-wide effort to combat racism on campus are more than just four words that fit on a T-shirt.<\/p>\n

\"We'reThe campaign, guided by the message We\u2019re Better Than That, was launched this spring as part of Rochester\u2019s larger initiative to address issues of race and diversity at the University.<\/p>\n

While the message fits on a T-shirt (and, yes, there are T-shirts), the campaign is more than just a fashion statement, says Delinois, a Rochester native who is studying political science and Latin American studies and who serves as secretary for the Spanish and Latino Students\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s learning how to combat racism and change a culture, by starting conversations among people who are uneducated on the issues,\u201d he says. \u201cThen, we start teaching how to become a more inclusive person and, ultimately, an encompassing campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the University community will highlight the campaign and its larger message on Monday, March 21, with events to mark the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racism. Across the River Campus and at the Eastman School of Music, hundreds of students, staff, faculty, and officials will wear gray T-shirts with the antiracism message.<\/p>\n

Booths will be set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hirst Lounge in Wilson Commons on the River Campus and from 9 a.m. to noon in Lowry Hall at the Eastman School of Music, where students can pick up shirts (first come, first served) and sign a large poster in support of the campaign.<\/p>\n

More than 900 shirts have been ordered by 22 departments, and another 1,000 will be given away to students on the River Campus and at Eastman. Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ 10,000 stickers and 1,000 buttons also have been ordered.<\/p>\n

The mission statement at the campaign\u2019s website (rochester.edu\/better-than-that<\/strong><\/a>) reads: \u201cRacism and hate speech have no place at the URochester. We aspire to be a community whose members are equally valued and respected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Feldman, dean of the College and a cochair of the President\u2019s Commission on Race and Diversity, has been a strong supporter of the effort. \u201cThe slogan We\u2019re Better Than That is simply the first step in an educational campaign aimed at eradicating bigotry here. It\u2019s wrong, and we all should work to eliminate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The catalyst for the campaign came last November 20, when about 150 students and supporters marched peacefully across campus to protest racism at the University and to present President and CEO Joel Seligman with a list of demands to improve the racial climate.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt acknowledges that racism does exist, but we can overcome it by becoming more willing to talk about race. It means we are better than racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice.\u201d
\n— Meredith Crenca \u201919\n<\/div>\n

Seligman responded three days later by announcing \u201ca series of specific steps to address the right of all in our community to be part of a community that is safe and supportive.\u201d One of those was a presidentially appointed Commission on Race and Diversity, a University-wide group that has been meeting this spring to assess issues of race and diversity. Since getting under way this winter, the group has held several town hall sessions, conducted research, and issued a preliminary report to Seligman. The group has been posting its work on its website at Rochester.edu\/president\/commission-on-race-and-diversity.<\/p>\n

Another initiative was the creation of a working group to raise awareness about and to combat racism, headed by Beth Olivares, dean for diversity initiatives, and Norman Burnett, assistant dean and director of the Office of Minority Student Affairs. The group meets weekly and is composed of deans, department heads, staff, and students.<\/p>\n

The group organized a student video contest, asking for 3- to 5-minute videos that illustrate why racism won\u2019t be tolerated on campus. First prize is $500, and second prize is $300. The deadline is midnight Friday, and the committee will choose the finalists. Anyone with a University Net ID then will be able to vote for their favorite video, and the winner will become part of a marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

After much brainstorming, We\u2019re Better Than That was chosen as the slogan in February. Committee members liked its subtle message and likened it to Nike\u2019s popular Just Do It campaign, created in 1988, and the Obama administration\u2019s 2014 It\u2019s On Us slogan to educate college students and members of campus communities on preventing sexual assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cSexual assault isn\u2019t mentioned in It\u2019s On Us,\u201d Delinois says, \u201cbut everyone knows that\u2019s what it means.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meredith Crenca \u201919 says the University\u2019s slogan \u201ceffectively emphasizes our community\u2019s desire to fight the racism that exists on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt acknowledges that racism does exist, but we can overcome it by becoming more willing to talk about race,\u201d the public health and Spanish double major from Rockville, Maryland, says. \u201cIt means we are better than racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign was launched at a February 27 basketball doubleheader. Hundreds of T-shirts, buttons and stickers with the new yellow-and-blue slogan were handed out in the Louis Alexander Palestra. All 500 shirts were gone before the last whistle sounded.<\/p>\n

Soon after, Olivares and her staff began receiving T-shirt orders from different departments. March 21 seemed a natural day to wear them in a show of support. On that day in 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fired and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the country\u2019s apartheid laws. Six years later, the United Nations proclaimed March 21 the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and asked the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of\u00a0racial discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe T-shirt event Monday is a show of solidarity and yet another great opportunity to raise awareness about our own antiracism campaign,\u201d Burnett says. \u201cOur committee will both develop and recommend a series of programs, resources, and activities designed to combat racism and hate speech at the University.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett says some of the initiatives may include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Educational programming focused on issues of racism during orientation and other major events<\/li>\n
  • An interactive website with a range of tools and resources designed to combat racism<\/li>\n
  • Common readings and discussions on race, bias and discrimination<\/li>\n
  • Curricular immersion<\/li>\n
  • Student, staff, and faculty diversity training with an emphasis on improving race relations<\/li>\n
  • Encourage reporting of bias related incidents via the revamped reporting system<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Crenca believes Rochester\u2019s campaign is a first step in creating a stronger, more accepting campus community. That includes creating an atmosphere where there there\u2019s no tolerance for racism, whether it appears on anonymous social media platforms like Yik Yak or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe need to acknowledge the protests and Yik Yak posts and respond to them by promoting zero tolerance for racism at UR,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For Rochester students like Justin Delinois \u201919 the sentiments captured in a University-wide effort to combat racism on campus are more than just four words that fit on a T-shirt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":145572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18612,14812,31862],"class_list":["post-145472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-announcements","tag-racism","tag-were-better-than-that"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCampaign aims to raise awareness about racism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/campaign-aims-to-raise-awareness-about-racism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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