How well did the UMD administration satisfy the concerns of Black student leaders?

Saba Tshibaka, recent alumnus of the University of Maryland and co-founder of student-run organization Black Terps Matter, attended a town hall with university administration to address progress towards demands.

Many Black student leaders still feel unheard after they gathered in a town hall with university administration on April 20 to discuss the progress of the 25 demands they found to be critical to the well-being of the campus community.

President Darryll J. Pines, Dr. Perillo, and Dr. Dodge were all in attendance to discuss their sustained commitment  and completion of 19 of the 25 demands. The demands can be found 

displayed on an online dashboard which tracks the progress that has been made since the university first met with the group of Black student leaders in the spring of 2020. 

Amid the social and political unrest in the United States in the summer of 2020,Saba Tshibaka founded  Black Terps Matter with the help of Nadia Owusu, a now alumnus. After the first protest on June 25, several meetings and demands followed with the administration into fall 2020 Pauline Sow,Jehnae Linkins, Adam Ahmed also helped in the advancement of the 25 issues. 

Some of the issues that have been completed and were considered most critical include: increasing the number of Black faculty and staff, mandating racial bias training throughout campus, prioritizing minority enrollment and directly partnering with community activists from Prince George's County. 

“Some of the things we do for Black students helps all students. While these issues were generated through discussions and narratives by Black students, many of them will help our community be a diverse environment where everyone feels they can reach their full potential,” said President Pines.  

While the demand for a racial incident hotline has been fulfilled, Chrisitna Sessoms, a graduate assistant at the University Career Center, believes it should be publicized. 

“As someone who has taught in the classroom for numerous years here at Maryland, I think that the [hotline] should be added to the syllabus as part of required material, [like the] counseling center, Title IX information, accessibility and accommodation,” said Sessoms. 

In addition to the existing demands, students also raised concerns about new issues outside of the existing list, one being minority enrollment from other cities.  Prioritizing minority enrollment from Prince George's county was the sixth critical issue– however, Senior history major Carly Holmes said that D.C should be included. 

“[The university] benefits from being near D.C, but does very little for students of color within D.C.,” said Holmes. “I see a lot of focus on PG students and Baltimore students within these demands. I completely understand that, but D.C students aren’t getting nearly as much and I feel like this school owes my city.” 

Though President Pines and the administration touted their progress at the town hall Wednesday night, Black student leaders continued to raise concerns. Tshibaka, recent alumna of the university, attended the town hall because she feels her social work is continuous. 

Tshibaka is concerned about transparency of the demands. Despite the use of the dashboard, she said there needs to be more clarity about what’s completed and what actionable steps the administration is actively committed to.

“I am committing myself to remain active in my community,” said Tshibaka. “To be active I have to be informed. I worked on this list of the demands two years ago. I don’t believe the students feel that there is a way to hold [the administration] accountable or that [they are] transparent.” 

Other Black student leaders wanted to see more development towards prioritizing more spaces on campus for Black students. The leaders discussed the importance of having various spaces that they could access so they don’t feel restricted to the Nyumburu Cultural Center. 

Holmes emphasized the need for black students to have spaces for students of color within their college. 

“[I felt] really alone during my experience in the College of Education. I was the only Black student in my class. Having these spaces would allow us to create bonds, meet faculty who are people of color, and network [with them],” said Holmes.

Holmes said that colleges and departments focused on science-related majors and career paths are even harder for Black students to navigate.

Jason Okorie, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, also feels that more spaces are a necessity on campus. 

“Being able to engage with fellow Black students in the stem major is my lifeline,”said Okorie. “Having a place to come together and talk about our course can go a long way. Being that one underrepresented minority in a class full of white people can be discouraging when you don’t see people like you working in the same field.” 

Planning for these spaces is underway, according to James McShay, the Assistant Vice President for Engagement. As the administration takes steps toward creating these spaces, they have set their sights on a new social mapping exercise. McShay explained that they’re looking at the schools and colleges on campus to see where students spend most of their time, and what the community spaces are used for - similar to how Black students use Nyumburu.

“We want to create that list of what those spaces are and how to better publicize them and make that information available for [the] Black student community,” said McShay.

While more space needs to be available for Black students, the quality is just as important according to Josiah Bedford, a senior mechanical engineering major.

“While we want to increase the number of opportunities for black students to reach fellowship with each other, we want to make sure they are not just settling,” said Bedford. 

Bedford is a member of the Black Engineer Society at the university, and said that the space assigned to them feels like it’s a closet. 

The space the Black Engineer Society meets is located in the basement of the engineering building and is too small to use for general body meetings, so members conduct those gatherings in Jimenez Hall. 

“I am not saying I am not grateful, but I feel we as a people are always kind of settling. We shouldn’t just expect something, we should expect the best,” he said.