As national conversations persist about the role of race in society and the place of Black citizens — particularly Black males — it is important for educators to consider how those conversations impact the campus climate, experts say.
Despite educators’ desire to separate the events happening on a national stage from the campus climate, “students from these communities come to college and carry th
Dr. Dennis Alexander, who serves on the faculty at Ohio State and works as a psychologist alongside Pietrantonio, agreed.
“This has really been about both my life work and my life,” said Alexander, who detailed the duality of both being a professional charged with understanding issues students face, but also having been personally touched by instances in which a member of his own family was shot “point-blank” by a police officer in front of his own home six years ago.
Though it is the deaths at the hands of the police that have grabbed national attention, Todd Suddeth, program director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, said it is important to peel back the layers and discuss all of the issues facing communities of color.
The recent headlines are about jobs, political representation, access to education and resources; it is important for academics as well as members of the community to put effort towards “trying to make it a larger issue, instead of just talking about police brutality,” Suddeth said.
Pietrantonio agreed, saying, “This isn’t just a one issue thing; this is across issues.”
