Rider University - Shadow Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

Page 155 text:

Qu, .. 1. i1 n I s -' -- . J-nu. -.y Y V - - ll,-L .- '- '- Y ' - r T' - H H11 -2' 3 LV. '-,.-'se' tl 1'-' J .. ,M .. --n at-large seat in the Senate. The RLF, also organized in 1968, provided a good ally in ABC's efforts toward get- ting 13 proposals designed to eliminate racism imple- mented. One Black professor in a faculty of over 150 is a racist practice. One and one-halt per cent Black en- rollment at Rider, when the city of Trenton has a Black population ratio of 60 per cent is also racist. Until the appointment of Forest Pritchett as Financial Aid Officer, Rider had a racist lack of administrators. The College still has a deficiency of Black staff that can easily be termed racist. Late 1969 witnessed Philip Krajewski's resignation from the Director of the Equal Opportunities Program at the request of the ABC. ABC made that request in order to secure a Black director, one more sensitive to Black student needs. ABC was to be crucial in the recruitment and all phases of the selection process for the new di- rector. ABC had the ugly task of fighting the appoint- ment of Lt. Col. Douglass Hall because of his quali- fications, which ABC felt lacking for the sensitive post, and President Elliot's disregard for Black student parti- cipation in selecting an EOP director. ABC vs. Douglass Hall-Black students fighting a Black administrator at the prompting of the president. Black students fought the appointment of Col. Hall into the summer of 1970 when the Board of Trustees at Rider ruled that Mr. Hall would be appointed subject to two six month reviews. At this writing Black students at Rider consider the Col. Hall appointment open and will hold a review of his activities as director of the EOP program. April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. was assasinated in Memphis, Tenn. Prior to and at his death, many young militants were receiving his message with open ears and hearts. Martin Luther King was a revolutionary

Page 154 text:

Void Filled, And Then Some, By Association Cf Black Collegians by Henry J. Lee, A.B. C. Kiamu of PoliticalAffairs The Association of Black Collegians was formed and organized in 1968 to fill an empty void. That empty void was physical in that previous to 1968 there was an ex- treme absence of Afro-American students. The Black students who were in attendance lacked positive emo- tional supports, having nothing Black to belong to and not quite fitting into established white associations and institutions. Rider College, like many private educational in- stitutions, sought applicants from the tuition-paying white middle class, admitting only the most exceptional Black students and limiting their recruitment efforts to a select chosen few. The decade of the 1960's saw Ri- der College relocate its educational facilities. The dec- ade of the 1960's also produced a massive awakening of a national Black conscious. Black men and women, mostly young but some old, across America were vis- ualizing the myths in practice, witnessing America's hid- eous double standards, and becoming involved in ori- entations of Black pride and unity. Here at Rider that awakening reached its head when in the fall semester of 1968 twenty Black students decided to fill some empty voids. Miss Annette Goode was elected the first president of the ABC. Within that first year, Black students strained to establish a productive organization and build strong ties with one another. Philosophically ABC was orga- nized to bring Afro-American students into a concentric body, to promote a common identity among Black stu- dents, and to foster co-operation among Black students at Rider and Black communities wherever they may be. Black students were thrilled by the slogan Black Power. To a people without powers, the capability of determining their own destiny and making decisions that effect their lives, Black Power carried the con- notation of removing the enormous yoke of oppression evident in the lives of Black people throughout America. ln the decade of the 1960's Black people were organ- izing and the year 1968 afforded Rider College the first real opportunity for Black students to organize and find emotional and physical comfort through Black unity. Until 1968 Black students could be counted on one hand. September 1968 saw Black student enrollment in- creased to its highest level, thanks to state and federal funds generated through the Great Society. The gov- ernment made funds available for equal educational op- portunities, and Rider responded by getting its feet wet with ten students. With a Black organization at Rider there was no fur- ther compulsory need for white associations. Associa- tions with white people became, perhaps for the first time, based on voluntary wants, needs and desires. Some Black students chose the companionship of white students, and these friendships still exist at this writing. These same Black students, however, have maintained their allegiance to Black aspirations and movement in support of these aspirations. On the other hand, the 140 majority of Black students have rejected white society, its goals, institutions, values, and attitudes. The degra- dation of slavery, the hypocrisy of enfranchisement, two world wars fought abroad under the banner of free- dom yet quasi-slavery at home, Korea and Black loyality rewarded by second class citizenship, and the ugly Viet- nam War have been history lessons that tell the vast numbers of Black youth that America is an alien envi- ronment. Worse than alien, America has been hostile to Black people. Viewed as both alien and hostile, most Black students at Rider have turned off every aspect of white society. These students cannot forget the repul- sive lessons of Afro-American history. Black youth and students, particularly at Rider College, find comfort in one another at the discomfort of many whites. When Blacks have on occasion organized, many whites have felt threatened. Racism is as American as apple pie. It is taught in homes and schools, and prac- ticed in every phase of life in America. Enlightened Black youth realize the inferiority of Black people inher- ent in a philosophy of racism and unite to eradicate these myths. At Rider Blacks have banded together united in order to overcome a repressive white society. The school year 1969-1970 saw Rider Blacks make their boldest efforts in asserting Black Power. Black power was aimed toward making Black life at Rider liv- able if not comfortable. Lenis Rountree led ABC and Black students toward the attainment of more fruitful academic, social and cultural programs. Eric Pierce was elected to the SGA, and Romona Morris held the ABC

Page 156 text:

l S ,fy M Z' ,gunman- . 'Nam and a Black leader with deep convictions. Black stu- dents at Rider commemorated his birthday on January 15, 1970, by having a memorial service in the Rider Cafeteria. At Rider there are many ideologies among students. All Black students and many white students mourned and honored his memory, but many white Ri- der students were quite disrespectful during the serv- ices. Tensions were strained, and perhaps only the non- violent philosophy of Dr. King kept violence and hostilities from erupting. May 1970 was the American invasion into Cambodia. College campuses throughout America echoed their discontent. May 1970 was the beginning of national stu- dent strikes, Kent State killings and-of greater rele- vance to Black students-the Jackson State, Mississippi murders. Kent State was publicized by mass media to the extent that the Black students killed at Jackson State went unnoticed. To Black people it is common to receive seconds and thirds. It is common, yet intoler- able. Kent State is part of a repressive American so- ciety, an extension of that same repressive system that tried to hinder and destroy Black peoples' efforts for lib- eration. At Rider the theme of the strike was: 13 Protest- ing the invasion of Cambodia as an extension of the Vietnam War, 25 Ending accreditation of ROTC at Rider, and 35 Protesting domestic repression of the Yippies and Black Panther Party, who had in 1970 been sub- jected to a sophisticated form of genocide. When the strike vote was asked of the Rider student body at large, the domestic repression issue was vetoed in its first vote, indicating that Rider students either were not