St. Thomas students and community members gathered at the Black Empowerment Student Alliance and ASIA club general meeting Tuesday to discuss the racial slur written on a first-year student’s door in Brady Hall. In the open dialogue, students from St. Thomas, St. Catherine University and the University of Minnesota all spoke.
Along with Tuesday’s meeting, BESA will also host a sit-in at 11:50 a.m. Thursday in the Anderson Student Center. According to BESA’s event flyer, the sit-in will be a silent protest with an all-white dress code “to symbolize the current demographic at the University of St. Thomas.”
The Twitter thread below was tweeted live by Chief Story Editor and Social Media Manager Solveig Rennan during the event.
TommieMedia is at the BESA and ASIA club general meeting in MCH 100. The meeting is taking place in response to the racial slur incident in Brady Hall last Friday. We will be tweeting updates during the event. pic.twitter.com/s201YwvgYW
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
BESA President Amira Warren-Yearby is addressing the crowd.
“We are clearly at max capacity,” Warren-Yearby said.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
BESA and ASIA club board members are introducing themselves to the crowd and making announcements to their club members.
“This is still our general meeting,” Warren-Yearby said.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
Event organizers initiated a moment of silence for Katherine Mullen, the St. Thomas sophomore who was found unresponsive and pronounced dead last week.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
Warren-Yearby is giving instructions for Thursday’s planned non-violent silent protest. Sit-in attendees are asked to wear all white and remain silent during the sit-in.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
USG vice president of diversity Malcolm Lawson is giving an overview of the incident.
“It breaks my heart,” Lawson said, regarding the Brady Hall incident. pic.twitter.com/1zNS94ycOY
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
Warren-Yearby explains the concept of “Courageous Conversations” before discussion begins. pic.twitter.com/J2A0N8Ygpf
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
An open-mic discussion has begun. Guided discussion questions are on the board and BESA members are walking through the crowd with mics. pic.twitter.com/EjaN7Pq3HR
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
A student asked the crowd to raise their hand if they were surprised by the event. No one in the room visibly raised their hand.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“Don’t hate the school, hate the person,” said another student speaking about the incident.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“We need to go beyond emails. I’m sick and tired of getting emails,” said a student speaking about emails sent out by the administration after incidents occur.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
The student body president of the St. Thomas Minneapolis campus speaks to the crowd. pic.twitter.com/veYxiSTUYv
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“It’s sickening, it’s disheartening and it makes me want to transfer,” said another student regarding the incident.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
The president of the Diversity Activities Board speaks to the crowd. pic.twitter.com/VySJVrYMoG
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
A student from St. Catherine University says they are here to stand in solidarity with black students at St. Thomas.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“It’s so hard to not be jaded and cynical. I just turned 20 this summer, I don’t want to be jaded and cynical,” said a St. Thomas student regarding the incident.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“I haven’t been able to eat for two days because of this situation,” said a student.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
A student from the University of Minnesota is speaking. “We should be out here, helping our friends, our peers, our teachers, educating them,” said the student.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
“I have not had one professor yet address this issue. As a business major, we’re going to be working with people who are a lot different than us,” said another student.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
USG student body president Bisrat Bayou is speaking.
“None of this is new to us. This has happened before… I urge you to continue your advocacy because it doesn’t end after this week.”
.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
”I just want to acknowledge the bravery of this young individual for taking it to the press,” Bayou said.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018
The student who found the racial slur on his door, Kevyn Perkins, is speaking.
“I just want to thank you guys for coming her and supporting me. Know that I really appreciate it,” Perkins said.
When he finished speaking, Perkins received a standing ovation from the crowd.
— TommieMedia (@TommieMedia) October 23, 2018