More Than Black and White

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Created on Thursday, 19 November 2015 18:53
Written by Emma Kaplan

RaceOnCampusLYNDON- College Campuses are tackling the issue of racism head on, and the Vermont State College System is doing their part to acknowledge the issue of Racism in Vermont.

The Vermont State College System is made up of five different schools; Castleton State College, Community College of Vermont, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College, and Vermont Technical Center, and with the recent protests at the University of Missouri and Yale, the conversation about racism has begun on the LSC campus.

 “If you have not been engaged in the conversation, then your perspective and in some cases your racism or any other 'ism' may be unintentional but it still exists,” LSC President Joe Bertolino says.  “As someone who is cognizant of their own white privilege, and who is cognizant of issues related to race and other biases, I would say that it became very apparent to me after about a year or two of being here, that beyond looking at the campus, and seeing little visible diversity, that the community, I don't think, had a full appreciation or experience of diversity.  You don't know what you don't know.

Nia Cusack, a junior in the Sports Leadership Department, agrees.  “The conversation allows people who don't come from a very diverse background to understand the struggles we may face as students of color, whether they think it's true or not.  At the end of the day, you're not walking in my shoes and I think the door is open to have that discussion with people.”  
 
According to information the college receives from students on their applications, there are 1,167 students enrolled in the Fall 2015 semester.  Of those students, 963 identify as White, 48 identify as Hispanic, 44 identify as Black, 12 identify as Asian, 12 identify as American/Alaska Native, 30 identify with two or more races, and 58 did not identify.  To help bridge the cultural gap, Lyndon has a group that meets regularly to foster intercultural understanding. President Bertolino says the VSC has recently convened a panel to talk about how to help prevent situations like those in Missouri and Connecticut.  “I feel compelled to have more conversations, deeper conversations and get more information about what is really happening in our community.”

Cusack hopes the conversation will lead to understanding.  “I would really be upset if what happened at Mizzou and Yale happened at Lyndon because at the end of the day, that hatred and disliking someone because of their skin color is barbaric to me,” Cusack told us.  “You're hating someone because of something that they can't control. I didn't choose to be born into an African American community, no one chooses to be born into a certain culture or ethnic group.  To me it makes no sense.”  Bertolino agrees, and responds to the situations like those at Mizzou and Yale “with a serious commitment to have this conversation.”