Black Student Union

In case no one has noticed it yet, two-thirds of Towson University's past and current student body is and remains white. The current and past regime's mantra of "inclusion" and "diversity" is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise the whites. This includes the recent Title 9 female over male baseball mess that the current TU president botched. TU is fine with all new ideas, just as long as they are theirs. During 1970-72 as an elected Student Government Association senator, I stood behind the effort to form a Black Student Union.

Over the past few weeks, I have quietly waited for someone to write in a sensible argument regarding the issue of the White Student Union at Towson University. I can no longer remain quiet. Let us remind ourselves of a few facts. White people are still in the majority in this country and on the campus of TU. Black people are still in the minority in this country as well as on the campus of TU. Lest we forget the atrocities that have been committed against our black brothers and sisters in this country.

Over the past few weeks, I have quietly waited for someone to write in a sensible argument regarding the issue of the White Student Union at Towson University. I can no longer remain quiet. Let us remind ourselves of a few facts. White people are still in the majority in this country and on the campus of TU. Black people are still in the minority in this country as well as on the campus of TU. Lest we forget the atrocities that have been committed against our black brothers and sisters in this country.

I was a bit confused by the letter Jeff Nelson wrote regarding the need for a White Student Union at Towson University. For the record, "white" is how most people would describe me. That's no more a part of my heritage than the fact that my eyes are blue. Now I claim no particular expertise in racial matters, but it seems to me that being black comes with a heritage, much more so than being white. White people in the U.S. were spared slavery, Jim Crow, segregation and having to struggle for equal rights.

Johns Hopkins University students and faculty members will have more diversity training, and the history of racism will be incorporated into the campus curriculum and workshops, Hopkins President William R. Brody announced yesterday, responding to an outcry over a racially offensive fraternity party.

Benjamin Karim, a longtime associate of Malcolm X during the years of his greatest popularity and the author of a new biography and memoir of the outspoken Nation of Islam leader, will speak at Western Maryland College on Feb. 16 as part of the college's observance of African-American History Month.Mr. Karim, who spent eight years working with Malcolm X in the Black Muslim movement, will discuss his experiences in a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge. The event, like all others scheduled for the monthlong celebration, is free and open to the public.

Four "extremely crude and dangerous" notes threatening violence against African-Americans were delivered through campus mail at the University of Maryland, College Park about noon yesterday, school officials said."

University of Maryland, College Park police met with the state police, U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and U.S. attorney's office yesterday to plan the investigation into threatening letters sent to black student leaders and organizations this week."

2 school publications win awards from press association Two local school publications were recognized for excellence in the Maryland Scholastic Press Association's 2004 publications contest. Annapolis High School's literary magazine, Perception, advisor Leslie Gershon and the staff won an award in the first-place category. Wanda Trimnal, yearbook advisor, and the staff for Arundel High School's yearbook, Panorama, won an award in the third-place category. The Maryland Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit association headquartered at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The scene on the television commercial is all too real: A young black boy sits at the dinner table with his mother, wondering why his older brother hasn't arrived home yet."Where's Michael?" he asks.Michael won't be coming home for dinner, we find out. He's dead. He overdosed on drugs.The commercial, part of an anti-drug campaign sponsored by the Baltimore Urban League, the city state's attorney's office and the Governor's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission, was created by members of the Maryland Black Student Alliance.

In case no one has noticed it yet, two-thirds of Towson University's past and current student body is and remains white. The current and past regime's mantra of "inclusion" and "diversity" is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise the whites. This includes the recent Title 9 female over male baseball mess that the current TU president botched. TU is fine with all new ideas, just as long as they are theirs. During 1970-72 as an elected Student Government Association senator, I stood behind the effort to form a Black Student Union.

Both Towson University and Johns Hopkins University - via their administrations and student government associations - are on the wrong side of the inclusion and diversity issues once again, and for the very same reasons, too: intolerance of viewpoints other than their own, partisan politics, and downright stupidity. In the case of Towson University, it has done everything possible to deny a projected white student union the right to form on campus - backed by its SGA - and this flying in the face of the fact that, as it admits, two-thirds of the current student body is - you guessed it!

A controversial student group at Towson University has again drawn criticism from other students who claim it is racist. But school administrators say they won't be taking any action against the group. On Saturday night, the group, Youth for Western Civilization, chalked messages that included the words "White Pride" at several visible locations on campus, including the Student Union and Freedom Square, said its president, Matthew Heimbach. When discovered Monday, the messages angered other student groups, who saw them as having nationalist connotations.

— A popular diversity official at the University of Maryland is considering applying for the presidency of a historically black college in Virginia, nearly six months after the announcement that his position would be terminated amid budget cuts. The university publicized plans in November to replace associate provost for equity and diversity Cordell Black with a part-time administrator, effective June 30. The final decision fell to Nariman Farvardin, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and spawned immediate protest, including a large November rally in support of Black's reinstatement.

A Towson University adjunct professor was fired last week after using a racially insensitive term in his art class. Allen Zaruba, a local artist who had taught at Towson for 12 years, said he was discussing provocative works depicted in textbook chapters on the body and identity when he used the term. "I crossed the line," he said. "I made a terrible, terrible mistake." Zaruba, who is white, said his black stepfather used racial terms freely and that "I never quite got the horror of the word."

A diverse crowd of several hundred students gathered last night in College Park to express still-raw emotions after the discovery last week of a noose hanging on the campus of the state's flagship public college. "We reject intolerance," said Barrie Adleberg, 21, a senior majoring in African-American and Jewish studies. "Instead of empowering the complacent attitude that racism will exist, we unite as a united voice of resistance." Police are looking for whoever dangled a 3-foot rope with a small loop at its end from a tree outside a campus cultural center that is home to several black organizations.

To find the kind of stuff Kevin Harried sells -- African incense, oils and jewelry -- shoppers have to stray far from malls and department stores.For even while Afro-centric products have soared in popularity since the release of the movie "Malcolm X," such items still can be hard to find.Recognizing this, members of the Black Student Union at Anne Arundel Community College decided to sponsor the school's first black expo, to commemorate Black History Month."Celebrate Black Expo '93" opened on Feb. 5 and will re-open for a second day tomorrow.

Both Towson University and Johns Hopkins University - via their administrations and student government associations - are on the wrong side of the inclusion and diversity issues once again, and for the very same reasons, too: intolerance of viewpoints other than their own, partisan politics, and downright stupidity. In the case of Towson University, it has done everything possible to deny a projected white student union the right to form on campus - backed by its SGA - and this flying in the face of the fact that, as it admits, two-thirds of the current student body is - you guessed it!