This past week, the Epsilon Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. (ΑΦΑ) brought to campus their annual Alpha Week, which featured such events as Black Girls Rock OSU, Go Green, and Ape Like An Alpha, however one event really impacted the point of view of many students on campus.
New Slaves was a discussion based event in which covered the intersectionality, and the diverse nature of African-Americans in today’s society. Within this dicussion students were asked what it truly means to be black, Who can say the “N” word, and if you recieve a better education in you attend a PWI over an HBCU college. Why bring up so many conterversial topics in one setting one may ask? James Sullivan, whom is a neophyte in this chapter stated,”As men of Alpha we felt that we should use our knowledge on such subjects to further the dialogue, and to further the black community here on campus.”
One topic that really heated up the dicussion was on colorism and wanting to be of another race. The common issue was that most of the crowd asscioated having more money was equal to being white, but having less money was equal to being black, and most stated that when growing up they wanted to change the color of their skin or their status in life, just so they would not have to deal with the stigmas of being poor.
With that came the PWI verses HBCU debate which has been circiling around the black community in recent years. This topic hit closer to home for our OK State students as Langston, which is an HBCU, resides down the highway from our campus. The pros and cons weighed for a while as the stigmas of HBCU’s such as, these colleges do not focus on education, and which univeristy looks better on your application were dicussed. Soon the debate came to a head as most students stated that they would have liked to have attended an HBCU, but felt that OSU or other PWI’s provided them with more opportunities within their selected major.
From talking with the students, it seemed that they came out with a sense of how others in their community felt, and the changes that needed to be made for them to progress. Kirsten Bowler a freshman here at OSU stated,”I felt they talked on some very questionable subjects, but overall it was a great experience; they touched on alot of topics, and brought clarity to the community.” The discussion not only impacted others, but opened my eyes to different perspectives, and how I viewed myself within the African-American community and society. In the future, I hope Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. continues to raise awarness within the black community and on OSU’s campus about diversity and intersectionality, and bring more discussion based events as such on campus.
I hope that you too see the importance of diversity, and dicussion based events like this here on campus; but in all ask yourself,
“Have you become a slave to society’s new standards?”
Epsilon Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. : Twitter- @OSUAlphas / Instagram- @Ostatealphas