SF State Black Unity Center under attack

Black-Unity-Center-Under-Attack-073118-flier, SF State Black Unity Center under attack, Local News & Views

SF State Black Student Union invites you to pack the press conference on Tuesday, July 31, at 2:00 p.m. on the San Francisco State University Main Lawn to demand Student Affairs and Division of Equity and Community Inclusion listen to Black students

by San Francisco State University Black Student Union

Fifty years after the establishment of the first College of Ethnic Studies and the longest student strike in American history, Black students at San Francisco State University find themselves once again fighting the same battle. The refusal to re-appoint the Black Unity Center’s first director, Dr. Serie McDougal, is an example of decision making absent Black student voices; it is an act of retaliation.

It is a reflection of the leadership’s discomfort with assertive Black voices – be they students, faculty or staff on campus – who are willing to challenge their assumptions and point out their inequitable practices without fear of retaliation from within Student Affairs and Enrollment Management (SAEM) and the Division of Equity and Community Inclusion.

The actions of Hayakawa in 1969 and Vice President Hong and Associate Vice President Perez in 2018 illustrate the constant battle against systemic injustice that Black students have continuously engaged in for over 50 years.

While the Black Unity Center has found great success under the leadership of Dr. McDougal and funding of the chancellor’s graduation initiative 2025, the Center’s abilities to meet and exceed the objectives of both its mission and the chancellor’s initiative has been at constant odds with SAEM. We have found the leadership of Student Affairs and the Division of Equity and Community Inclusion to be remarkably hierarchical, poorly responsive, averse to taking action informed by Black student voices, and overly concerned with selling the image of equity and inclusion over building substantive relationships with underrepresented students.

Student Affairs leadership has proven itself unwilling to look at itself and be critical, instead attempting to bully Black faculty who are strong advocates for Black student voices. That’s a disturbing trend.

Student Affairs leadership has proven itself unwilling to look at itself and be critical, instead attempting to bully Black faculty who are strong advocates for Black student voices. That’s a disturbing trend.

San Francisco State University Resolution in Support of the SF State Black Unity Center

Date: April 3, 2018

RATIONALE: The Black Unity Center was opened in August 2017 as a resource for Black students on the San Francisco State campus. The inaugural director, Professor Serie McDougal, has made great progress in reaching out to the entire campus with programming that is open and inclusive. The Academic Senate remains concerned about the need for ongoing consultation and support of the center and its efforts.

WHEREAS the Black Unity Center at SF State University has been an ongoing demand from SF State’s Black Student Union from 1966 through 2016, and was one of six student demands made to President Wong to address the retention and success of African descended students; and

The Black Unity Center at SF State University has been an ongoing demand from SF State’s Black Student Union from 1966 through 2016.

WHEREAS in the strategic spirits of equity and community, and after a series of meetings, President Wong acknowledged this demand and its relationship to the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025 by enabling the creation of The Black Unity Center as part of the new Division of Equity and Community Inclusion; and

WHEREAS under the leadership of Dr. Serie McDougal III, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, College of Ethnic Studies, the mission of The Black Unity Center has evolved to provide students, through cross-campus community collaboration, an African-centered environment that aims at student achievement through transformative, impactful and socially conscious programs that minimize barriers to educational equity; and

WHEREAS the Director of the Center provides guidance, consultation and assistance in the development, review and revision of departmental and unit policies and procedures so as to minimize barriers to educational equity for Black students and to enhance access, success, retention and graduation for Black students; and

WHEREAS the Director and the Center’s work-study coordinators provide guidance on the development of culturally responsive programing and co-curriculum and work collaboratively with Academic Affairs colleagues on promoting culturally relevant curriculum; and

WHEREAS the mission of the Center is to provide Black students, through cross-campus community collaborations and an intersectional, African-centered environment, with transformative, impactful and socially conscious programs that allow them to grow academically, interpersonally, culturally and professionally, in order to advance their recruitment, matriculation, retention and graduation; Therefore, be it

The mission of the Center is to provide Black students, through cross-campus community collaborations and an intersectional, African-centered environment, with transformative, impactful and socially conscious programs that allow them to grow academically, interpersonally, culturally and professionally, in order to advance their recruitment, matriculation, retention and graduation.

RESOLVED that the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University recognizes the need for the role of the Black Unity Center on our campus, as the six-year graduation rates of Black students at SF State are more than 20 percent below those of non-underrepresented groups; and be it further

RESOLVED that the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University encourages the administration to engage in ongoing consultation and provide sufficient resources for the Black Unity Center to advance, function, and thrive and a structure that matches both the mission of the center and the university; and be it further

RESOLVED that SF State follow through on plans to develop similar centers focused on Latinx students, LGBTQ+ students, and Interfaith and Intercultural programs.

RESOLVED that this resolution be distributed to President Wong, Provost and VP of Academic Affairs Summit, VP of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Hong and Professor McDougal.

The San Francisco State University Black Student Union can be reached at sfsubsu@gmail.com.