Since the last update from UTM’s Black History Matters Coalition (BHMC), both current students, as well as UTM alumni, have continued their request for a requirement in African American History and Thought.
Below is a timeline of their work throughout 2020.
After meeting with Chancellor Carver, Vice Chancellor Cavalier, and Faculty Senate President Sean Walker, the group remains committed to the cause that is Black history. Most recently, the group has expressed its disappointment at the installation of the Skyhawk Creed instead of a required class for all students to take.
On a recent Facebook post by UTM, one student expressed hope for an amendment in the student handbook to include content pertaining to hate speech and the consequences of those actions, should they originate from a current student. Additionally, Devin Majors, an alumnus of UTM, remarked that videos like the one introducing the Skyhawk Creed “could be a good idea if it was accompanied by policy change.”
Hailey Williford, also a UTM alum and member of the BHMC, shared that it was important to see actions behind the videos and Facebook posts that UTM has released that attempt to address the racist incidences that occurred this past year. Williford says that she would prefer to see statements saying things such as, “and this is what we’ve done to provide our students with the tools to live out our pledge.”
According to a survey sent out last semester by UTM’s Student Government Association (SGA), many students prefer taking a class pertaining to Diversity in general, as opposed to a strictly African American history-related course. Though other students on campus have expressed concern for the validity of the survey, as not every student responds to them, the SGA has since insisted that it is the well-being of the entire student body that it is concerned with representing.
At the moment, the BHMC is in the process of checking off a few more boxes that Chancellor Carver has informed the group needs to be fulfilled. According to Chancellor Carver and Interim Chief of Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Mark McCloud, several black faculty members on campus are also in the midst of working on their own proposal pertaining to diversity and inclusion.
For more information on the BHMC group, check their instagram @utm_bhm or their Twitter @utm_bhm.
