Black history is human history

"IF IT wasn't for this program, I wouldn't know myself!" "Black history is human history!" "People had to fight and die for it!"

These were just some of the cries at a rally to save the Black Studies Departmentat the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz. On December 9, the Black Studies Student Organization (BSSO) organized a walkout of classes and a rally, which consisted of more than 120 students and several organizations, including the Black Student Union, the African Women's Union and the International Socialist Organization, in front of the Haggerty Administration Building on campus.

The rally was organized to demand that the administration "fulfill their promise of full and unhesitating support for a strong and vital Black Studies Department," according to organizers. Students held posters reading "#BlackStudiesMatter" "Save Black Studies" and "Why are we stalling?" to voice their frustrations.

The BSSO had three demands for the administration, which were publicly released one week before the rally: 1) The immediate release of a national search advertisement for a full-time, tenure-track faculty member in Black Studies; 2) the commitment to hire two additional full-time tenured faculty in Black Studies by fall 2016; and 3) a comprehensive plan to increase the number of faculty and students of color.

This wasn't the first time students have protested to protect the Black Studies Department. On November 12, during a rally in solidarity with the University of Missouri, the issue of the Black Studies Department was also brought up.

The demand for a published ad was fulfilled just before the start of the rally on December 9. While this seems like a good sign, the gesture is diminished because this particular demand was made months ago, and the administration promised the ad would be on the SUNY New Paltz website by the beginning of the fall 2015 semester.

THE BLACK Studies Department has been under attack for some time now and has recently faced considerable adversity. This past year saw the retirement of four full-time faculty members and professors in Black Studies. Instead of immediately finding replacements for these positions, which would have been a priority in any other department, the administration didn't want to hire even one full-time professor. As one protester put it, "No other department has to do this [protest]. It's a symbol of racism."

The administration's initial plan was to hire one visiting faculty member to take on the duties of three positions. It wasn't until October that the administration agreed to hire a full-time professor.

This only happened because of the efforts of committed students and alumni. The Black Student Union met with SUNY New Paltz President Donald Christian every month for the past year, repeatedly voicing its acute interest in the survival of the Black Studies Department.

The administration has implied that there is no racist connotation to the dissolution of the Black Studies Department--that it is only due to lack of interest, as there are only 38 Black Studies majors and 34 minors. But the interest is certainly there. A BSSO petition to save the department got more than 1,000 signatures. The racism can be seen in enrollment statistics. Blacks only make up 6 percent of SUNY New Paltz enrollment, despite being 17.6 percent of the New York state population.

The administration ignores this because SUNY New Paltz has white supremacy built into its culture. Deyo and Dubois dorm halls and Hasbrouck Dining Hall are named after former slave masters. There is degrading symbolism in a slave master's home providing food and shelter for Black students. There have been some attempts in the past to get these names changed, but they didn't achieve results.

The only dorm hall that reflects Black culture is Shango Hall, which was the only building where Black students could live when they were first admitted to the university. It was also where the Black Studies Department was housed from 1971 to 2001. While this hall does contain murals of Black figures and culture, it is never guaranteed that they will remain. Every semester, alumni visit campus and call current students to make sure the murals are still there.

More recently, there have been attempts to add to the number of dorm halls named after Black figures. In 2009, Dr. Margaret Wade Lewis--founder of the African Women's Alliance and Scholar Mentorship Program on campus and chair of the Black Studies Department from the 1970s until her death--passed away. Students mourned her and remembered her as a great leader, mentor and friend.

After her death, there was a call to rename College Hall, a dorm connected to Shango, in her memory. This was denied because it would be "too expensive to change the name in the paperwork." Instead, a commemorative tree was planted near Shango Hall. Another attempt at honoring Dr. Lewis was made during the construction of the Ridgeview dorm hall. Advocates wanted to name it after her, but lack of money was once again used as an excuse.

At the rally, Major Coleman, head of the Black Studies Department, voiced his praise for the protesting students: "I am so proud and humble to see all of you here. I see you learned your lesson." He also explained why Black Studies as a department must stay intact: "Departments have the autonomy that programs do not [such as the ability to hire and fire their own faculty]. Departments have connections to the community on campus and can be in solidarity with students."

THE BSSO formulated the demands and organized the rally, but the protesters themselves were the true leaders on December 9. Once the BSSO made its opening statement and described the protest's mission, anyone could speak up and vocalize their grievances with the administration's treatment of Black Studies. Students dictated the direction of the discussion, a lesson that Black Studies aims to teach. "I became quite aware of issues and became a leader," said senior Ethan Fogg.

The demonstration was limited to the quad outside of the Haggerty Administration Building (HAB)--until administrators came out in an effort to defend themselves. Stella Deen, the interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, assured the demonstrators that the administration was working diligently to solve the problem.

The protesters did not silently accept this. For every false claim Deen made about the school's efforts, several protesters came back with evidence of the administration's shortcomings. While Deen tried to pass off the administration's "official stance" as fact, the protesters stuck to their guns and let the facts speak for themselves.

Shortly after this, the chief of security came out and informed the rally that President Christian wasn't even on campus. This incited protesters to break out in chanting. The demonstration then moved into the HAB itself. With a cry of "They disrupted our department so we're going to disrupt theirs," all the protesters entered the lobby of the HAB.

Since Christian was off campus and Provost Deen had fled the building, the protesters decided to occupy all nine floors of the HAB and chant. Demonstrators avoided the fourth floor, however, as it housed the Educational Opportunities Program Office, which makes college education financially possible for many Black and other students of color. Floor by floor, the rally moved on, with new chants on each floor, like, "Ain't no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people don't stop."

Once the protest went mobile, the administration became nervous. Two university police--a standard officer and Chief David Dugatkin--followed the protesters, but did not break up the rally. All their presence did was heighten tension.

This isn't the first example of the SUNY New Paltz University Police Department (UPD) flexing their power when it wasn't necessary. In 2013, UPD made the most drug arrests per capita out of any campus--a fact the department wears like a badge of honor. In spring 2015, the UPD was awarded for this by the Policeman's Benevolent Association, which was protested by students.

THE THREE-HOUR rally concluded with a show of solidarity. At the same time as the Save Black Studies protest was happening, students at John Carroll University were protesting for the construction of a Black culture center on their campus. Both movements were re-tweeting and sharing each other's struggle on social media.

Beyond solidarity of Black movements, there was discussion of how this rally fits in with the overall narrative of struggle. There were a few chants raising non-Black Studies issues, like calls for justice in Palestine and for the rights of all people in the LGBTQQIPPA spectrum. One speaker concluded by saying, "Movement is built with interconnectivity. People in Syria or Palestine are seeing our movement."

Unfortunately, the protest has yet to produce any actual change. The day after the protest, President Christian issued an e-mail commending the effort--but with no action to back it up, this is an empty gesture.

Moving forward, the demands for more faculty and students of color will only be reiterated more loudly and often. "We got a W [a win] today because they gave us one of our demands," said BSU president Yaranny Reynoso, "but there's still two more to go."