Today, May Day, a group of students, faculty and staff from Mailman School of Public Health came together for a ReLOVEution. We wanted to discuss allyship, the power of language, and to reflect how the Mailman and greater CUMC community can lead efforts to address issues of racial and social injustices both in the field of public health and within our own institution.
Here are
just a few of the ideas generated today. Participants shared aloud, but also submitted through an anonymous live poll
that was broadcast during the event. Folks were encouraged to phrase their
thoughts in three ways: I
think..., I wonder..., and I wish...
- I wonder what all the students who
aren't here are doing/thinking/feeling about race, racism, allyship.
- I
wish CUMC support staff could be included in these conversations.
- I
wonder how to bring this discourse and growth to the departments, courses,
and individuals who do not self-select into confronting these issues.
- I wish the
Washington Heights/Harlem community was included in these discussions.
- I wish that we
would also recognize the efforts that faculty ARE making.
- I wish the university as a whole
put in more effort to support events like this, not just us - a handful of
students from Mailman.
- I wonder why
MSPH doesn't value activism and advocacy among faculty in hiring,
tenure and promotion decisions.
- I wish there was more transparency
about the actions and accountability taken by the administration.
- I wish there was
a way to better recognize staff who have tried to make their offices
a safe space for students.
- I wish we
studied social movements in the Core.
- I wish we would address how to
actually address stigma rather than just saying it's a problem.
- I wish my professor had taken the
time to challenge and engage a student who had made an offensive and
elitist statement in class.
- I wish more of my professors looked
like me.
- I wish our administrators would
take more of a stand on these issues and not just respond to student
frustrations.
- I think that the people who are
not in this room should be here.
- I wish that
community organizers didn't pre-determine who is or isn't "about the
cause," creating the silos they're trying to break down.
- I wish there were better spaces to
build community here--our physical space is so constricted, it's hard to
bring people together.
- The way to institutionalize this
is to work with staff and faculty. They will be here after two years and
can keep momentum going with new students.
- I think I am going to miss how the
Core and ISP brought different groups together.
- I wish there were community
standards to take on these issues, so that when they are violated, there
is a clear trajectory of accountability.
- I wish there was a more defined
advising structure that would enable me to forge a stronger relationship
with a faculty member.
- I wish there was more transparency
between students, faculty and administration.
- The choir is here. Preach not to us...how do we get the non-believers to show up?
- I wish we were actively encouraged
to protest.
- I think the professors in the room
are fantastic. But we need more. We want to work with you but we need to
feel your support.
- I wish students had a truly safe space to go when they feel intimidated by the administration or faculty.
- I wish that
students knew the challenge behind the scenes of making the change a
reality. We
(administration/faculty) can't breathe.
- I wish CUMC would see these
conversations as important outside MSPH too.
- I wish that institutional memory
expanded beyond 2 years - I wonder if these conversations will be
continued over when current students have graduated, because that is one
of this institution's main failures.
- I wish the administration
respected me as an adult and valued me as a person. That means speaking to
me in the same manner they would speak to their colleagues.
- I wish that when I asked
admissions officers from universities about diversity in their program,
that they didn't just say "there's a Black/Latino student group'' .
- I wonder why my colleagues are painted as though they are mindless to social justice issues.
- I agree that there
should be more support and encouragement to protest on the streets and not
just on campus. Theory should reflect praxis!
