whose university?
Spokesperson at the Freedom Forum.
Photo by: Jade Hilton
Minority students across the country have historically faced a number of social issues. Gaining the right to education has been a slow and steady process that has been lead by the voices of student groups. To this day, minority student groups are still dealing with discrimination. When it comes to the US education system, standardized testing and tuition favors the wealthy. The main problem with this is that the majority of black people are not wealthy. This is reflected on the racial demographics of universities across the nation. At the University of Illinois, only 5% of the student population is black while 44% is White. Student groups Black Students for Revolution are asking the university to support students from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.
Recently, a number of student protests have been occurring in the University of Illinois campustown. Many of these protests have been held in response to issues like police brutality, the rhetoric of president-elect Donald Trump, as well as the demand for greater admittance of black students into the university. Each protest has one thing in common… it is a request to be heard by the university.
Earlier this week, university adminstration met with students in a "Freedom Forum". The meeting consisted of a panel of Chancellor Robert J. Jones, student body president Rob Lewis, and Black Students for Revolution president Karen Olowu to name a few. The event opened up a conversation between the black community and the university.
Some students like Olowu believe that despite the conversation at the Freedom Forum, the university is not listening to the demands of minority students.
“I think overwhelmingly institutions of higher education have turned towards a profit driven model," she said. "So instead of really being invested in the education of working class, working poor students, it’s more about what program will get the Universtiy the most prestige, will get it the wealthiest donors, the wealthiest alumni.”
Chancellor Robert J. Jones claims that the university cannot be blamed for the lack of diversity at U of I.
“Unfortunately, universities are macrocosm broader society and ugly things happen in broader societies so you can’t expect Universities to be completely different in that regard," he said in a statement.
Karen Olowu and the black community demands to have their voices heard. Right now they only have one way of getting the university’s attention, through student protests.
“In order to put pressure on people with power you need to have enough people.”
- Jade Hilton
Recently, a number of student protests have been occurring in the University of Illinois campustown. Many of these protests have been held in response to issues like police brutality, the rhetoric of president-elect Donald Trump, as well as the demand for greater admittance of black students into the university. Each protest has one thing in common… it is a request to be heard by the university.
Earlier this week, university adminstration met with students in a "Freedom Forum". The meeting consisted of a panel of Chancellor Robert J. Jones, student body president Rob Lewis, and Black Students for Revolution president Karen Olowu to name a few. The event opened up a conversation between the black community and the university.
Some students like Olowu believe that despite the conversation at the Freedom Forum, the university is not listening to the demands of minority students.
“I think overwhelmingly institutions of higher education have turned towards a profit driven model," she said. "So instead of really being invested in the education of working class, working poor students, it’s more about what program will get the Universtiy the most prestige, will get it the wealthiest donors, the wealthiest alumni.”
Chancellor Robert J. Jones claims that the university cannot be blamed for the lack of diversity at U of I.
“Unfortunately, universities are macrocosm broader society and ugly things happen in broader societies so you can’t expect Universities to be completely different in that regard," he said in a statement.
Karen Olowu and the black community demands to have their voices heard. Right now they only have one way of getting the university’s attention, through student protests.
“In order to put pressure on people with power you need to have enough people.”
- Jade Hilton
You can watch the package on the Freedom Forum and Illinois Student Protesting at the bottom of the page or here:
