Presentation examines racial history of CSB+SJ
History Professor Brittany Merritt Nash spoke on the integration of students of color and subsquent history of racism at the institutions during a Black History Month event. Topics included treatment of Black students and the 1970 occupation of the President's Office.
The history department and the Johnnie Development Institute (JDI) hosted “History of Race and Racism at CSB+SJU” on Thursday. The event was aimed at tracing the complicated relationship between CSB+SJU and students of color. History professor Brittany Merritt Nash began the event by acknowledging the tension that comes from pushing diversity.
“We can see that from the earliest days of attempts to increase diversity on campus, there was tension between the Catholic and Benedictine values of Justice, Community Living and Respect for Persons, and concerns about who should be welcomed into that community,” Merritt Nash said.
The event looked to raise awareness about institution-specific history, examining the struggles and acts of resistance of students of color on campus, both in the past and present. Struggles, Merritt Nash said, began quickly upon the admittance of the very first Black students at CSB. She learned that the attendance of the students was met with backlash from alumnae, who wrote to then-president Sister Claire Lynch, concerned that the presence of the women would be damaging to the school’s prestige.
“I thought it sounded really interesting, just a good learning experience … I didn’t know a lot about the history of our campuses, and I think it’s really beneficial for students to know,” CSB junior Miel Aronson said.
A reoccurring theme in Merritt Nash’s findings was the unanswered demands of students of color, who throughout the history of both institutions have repeatedly spoken out and protested in search of greater diversity both on campus and in the curriculum. However, historically, each time students spoke out, they were met with dismissal and sometimes open hostility from fellow students as well as the administration.
In 1970, after a sit-in at the president’s office, nine students were arrested by St. Joseph police after the school called them in to break up the demonstration. Then in 1993, a bar fight broke out in Sal’s Bar and Grill over the harassment of a Black student, spurring discussion on campus. Further incidents discussed at the event included the more recent viral “build that wall” chant aboard the Link in 2017 and the Cinco de Mayo “border-themed” party in 2019.
“It really reflects that Johnnie-Bennie connection with the alumni. A lot of people here say, ‘oh yeah, my parents went here,’ so then that made me question: whose parents were on the other side? Saying ‘no, you all need to stop talking’ or ‘tone it down,’ things like that,” SJU sophomore Adrian Belisle said.
At the end of the night, new Senior Diversity Officer, Sandra Mitchell, spoke to attendees about the history of racism throughout the school’s history and stressed the importance of current students identifying their biases and understanding where they originate. She stated that while her new position was progress, it was only a small part of what still needed to be accomplished.
“I want to leave us with this idea that there is hope,” Mitchell said. “This work is not easy; it’s never easy; it’s probably not going to be easy … But in the end, we know that it is worth it. We know that there has got to be a better way.”
SJU senior and Johnnie Development Student Director Sam Rengo thought the message of this event was important for all students to hear, not just history students.
“I think it was an opportunity to showcase something really impactful,” Rengo said.
