Rider University - Shadow Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

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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

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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

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aware of the links betweeen repression in the U.S. and Vietnam, or that they could ignore inhumanity in Amer- ica and protest inhumanity abroad. The veto was a gross insult to members of the ABC and its co-ordinator Rountree voiced a collective disillusionment with white liberal and radical students of Rider College. The Association of Black Collegians changed its or- ganizational structure in the spring semester of 1970. To insure greater participation in its organizational ac- tivities, to eliminate unilateral decision making and to work on a wider variety of activities, the membership of ABC adopted a UMAJA Board. It consisted of Kiamus qchairmenj in the areas of EOP, political activities, edu- cation, communications and finance, and there were also corresponding and recording secretaries, and a treasurer. Elected to these offices for 1970-1971 were respectively Eric Pierce, Henry Lee, Sharon Saunders, Larry Cain, Lorraine Voorhees, Loretta Randolph, Shiela Clark and Byron Hannon. ABC was formed to provide educational, cultural, and social functions for Black students in 1968 when there were 20 Black students enrolled. A fall semester 119701 enrollment of 100 Black students minimized the roll of ABC in performing the aforementioned functions, in that these functions were satisfied by sub-groupings within the ABC. 1970-1971 will see Black students meeting the challenge of setting new priorities. Old grievances re- main, the racist subtleties that make life uncomfortable must be tackled, development of a multi-interest organi- zation is a high priority and developing strong commu- nity relations is an absolute must. Recounting the events in the three year history of ABC and the people instrumental in making that history would be a chronicle that space limitations make most difficult. ABC in the past has been the collective voice of Black students at Rider, and graduating Black stu- dents have only pride to reflect upon when remember- ing the forming and operation of the Association of Black Collegians that will continue to fight racism, edu- cate a Black intelligentsia, and prepare young men and women with the means of making Black peoples lives in America both rewarding and fruitful. SQ 143