During the 2018 spring semester, an act of racial and ethnic hatred took place on the Luther College campus. Two symbols of hate, racism, and antisemitism—the letters “KKK” and a swastika—were stomped into the snow on the football field.
While the incident was upsetting, for some students it was not a surprise. As part of a Chips interview, BSU president Harleigh Boldridge ’18 stated, “I was shocked that I got the email but I was not shocked that something like this happened.” BSU vice president Daniel Brown ’18 said, “The climate on campus is not ‘peachy-keen.’ . . . It’s not ‘fine and dandy.’ We feel targeted. We don’t feel safe.”
In my own attempt to process events on campus, I scrolled through current and past Chips articles. A particular student editorial stood out. It reads, in part,
During the last few weeks, the usually serene face of Luther College has been disturbed by a rude awakening. In a series of incidents . . . racism and prejudice have come into the open with all their ugly results. . . . No longer has Luther been an insulated community shut off from the more profound conflict that exists in this country. Our campus has become a mirror of the ugly state of society. . . . The question that comes up now is, are we strong enough, do we have conviction enough to face the reality of racism and fight it with all that we have.
I found myself both inspired and intrigued by the comments of this Luther student—especially because the student was commenting on events that took place 50 years earlier during the spring semester of 1968.
The student referred to the desires of black students on campus to form a Black Student Union, writing, “There is now a movement afoot to organize a black student union here at Luther. Such an organization can be beneficial for both the Negro students and the white. It can also be the cause of considerable conflict on campus.”
The student’s reference to “considerable conflicts on campus” was most likely an allusion to all of the black student protests occurring on college campuses across the United States at that time. Ibram X. Kendi—Luther College’s 2019 Spring Distinguished Lecturer—highlights in his award-winning book, The Black Campus Movement, how black student activism during the late 1960s profoundly transformed campus culture and politics as well as the very character of American higher education.
This year we seek to honor those student activists and the ongoing contributions of the BSU to campus life at Luther. In addition to lectures and performances, multiple screenings of the award-winning documentary Agents of Change, and numerous other campus-wide events, the BSU has been collaborating with several academic departments and programs to bring black alumni to campus to share their experiences and to engage and interact with students across campus.
These alumni visits serve as a way of highlighting the presence, contributions, and achievements of black Luther College graduates as well as a way of promoting campus dialogue and conversations regarding best ways of recruiting, retaining, and (most importantly) supporting racially underrepresented students at Luther. Such conversations are especially important in light of the rapidly changing demographics of high school graduating seniors across the U.S.
Within a rapidly changing landscape of fewer high school graduating seniors and more racial and ethnic diversity within those numbers, Luther has to ask itself, As so-called minority high school students move toward being an American majority within the next decade, is Luther College fully prepared to support racial and ethnic diversity, student success, and programming oriented toward shifting populations? We hope the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the BSU will provide opportunities for members of the Luther community to discuss and reflect upon this very question.
The yearlong commemoration will culminate with a community-wide celebration, April 26–28, that will bring alumni to campus to honor BSU founders, to commemorate 50 years of BSU presence at the college, and to discuss how Luther can best continue the work of establishing racial equity and inclusion across campus.
Guy Nave, professor of religion, is a longtime faculty advisor for Luther’s Black Student Union. He is the founder of the online social media platform Clamoring for Change and guest contributor to a number of sites, including Luther’s Ideas and Creations blog series and Sojourners Commentary blog series.
Below, we gather the perspectives of six former BSU leaders and members who share how the organization impacted the community and their own lives during their time at Luther and beyond. Responses have been edited for length.
Barbara Fuller ’72
Hematologist-oncologist in private practice in northwest Indiana; regent emerita
Tell us a little about your involvement with BSU.
Nineteen sixty-eight was a year that awakened Americans to some of the African American struggles for equality. Civil rights protests and events around the country brought both awareness and divisions. The movement for equality turned to anger, riots, and burning of neighborhoods in major cities throughout the country after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King that same year in Memphis, Tenn. This had an impact on black students attending colleges and universities around the country who needed a voice and an organization that represented them on campuses throughout America. The formation of the BSU gave them unity and a unified presence.
The BSU at Luther came into being that year. Its presence helped me begin to understand why being Black and proud was a right and not a condition to be tossed aside. . . The BSU validated our existence on the Luther campus as students who were diverse, serious, deserving, and willing to educate ourselves. It became a tangible organization that helped to sustain awareness of African American culture in America as integral and equal, not as separate but equal. . . .
BSUs on campuses were important catalysts that led to the formation of black studies departments that became permanent parts of curriculums of colleges and universities throughout the country, thus providing a means to continue the conversation and education about African American culture and history.
How did your involvement in BSU impact or shape your life today?
Looking back, I think that the time that I spent at Luther as a student was great. I might have said differently in 1972. “Good” has become “great” because I have learned to appreciate those years as formative years for me. My experiences were diverse and sometimes difficult. I had growing pains that were both social and academic, but they helped me to evolve into the person that I am. Part of my life and all of my career decisions were inspired by those who crossed my path at Luther. I hope and pray that my being there was inspirational to some individuals as well. To borrow a phrase, “I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey.”
W.D. (Foster) Foster-Graham ’74
Retired elementary school teacher for the Minneapolis public schools; author of four novels
Describe an issue that arose during your time on campus and how the BSU worked to address/change it.
Issues arose all four years I was at Luther. Some of the things that came up involved culture shock, cultural sensitivity, and racism. Unfortunately those things are still there, if last year is any indication. We as black students had to fight to get a Black Studies Department. President Farwell had a good idea as far as getting students of color to Luther, but what happened once we got there fell short.
We were, as black students, privy to direct action. It was the early 1970s. Internet and social media and smart phones weren’t in existence, so a lot of our communication was very direct.
What are your hopes for the future of BSU?
I would love to see a lot more direct action and an inclusiveness about it. What I see in this generation versus mine—it’s easy to talk about with emojis on social media, but one-on-one conversations are essential in moving forward. And since the demographics in colleges these days are changing, it’s important to have one-on-one conversations across the board. . . .
I would say that, solution-wise, it takes a collaborative effort on the part of the administration, the faculty, the staff, the students, and the alumni. Each has a role to play in moving forward. When I came down last fall to Luther, it was the first time I set foot on that campus in 35 years because of my experiences as a student. As an alumnus, I look at it this way: the same things are going on, and if I am absent from that, then I am part of the problem. I said to myself, Okay, it’s time to take a new role here. There are many ways to network with students on campus, and an important one is having a stronger presence of alumni of color on campus aside from Homecoming and Commencement. As an alumnus, I’m in a unique position because I’ve been where they are. When we as black alumni share our stories, as well our successes today, we help them.
It’s up to me to take an active role and step up to the plate. That’s something I live by: let it begin with me.
Greg Fields ’77
HR analyst for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; former vice president of BSU; regent emeritus
What are your hopes for the future of BSU?
It is my hope that enrollment of students of color, in particular African American students, continues to grow and that the BSU is seen as a vital part of the college community. I strongly believe that Luther is a great place to get a good education, and I would like to see more students of color get the same opportunity that I got more than 40 years ago.
I also hope to find a way for the BSU to engage with Black alumni in a more long-term way and for the alumni to become resources for students at Luther.
Maxie (Jones) Rockymore ’82
State of Minnesota manager of foster care and Title IV-E; playwright and poet
Describe an issue that arose during your time on campus and how the BSU worked to address/change it.
An issue that arose for us was that black first-year students, both male and female, were having a hard time adjusting to the rural, all-white environment of Luther and Decorah. Most importantly, when white freshmen and black freshmen were having skirmishes, the black freshmen were being disciplined and not the white freshmen. So we wrote a letter asking that the school address the mistreatment that black freshmen male students were experiencing. We met with the president and administrators to address these issues. We suggested that a black female and male resident assistant be assigned to the first-year dorms so that incoming freshmen would have someone to advocate for them and make adjustments to campus life. The administration agreed, and ironically I was assigned to be the RA for the incoming black freshmen girls.
What should the Luther community know about your experience as a Luther student of color?
When we were at Luther we had a few black faculty, namely Orchard and Lillian Mdzonga and Fritz Pointer. They were crucial in supporting black students and guiding and supporting our academic success. I hope that Luther continues to recruit diverse faculty in order to attract and retain students of color.
Akos Frimpong ’03
Elementary school teacher; former BSU president
Tell us a little about your experience with BSU.
From very early on at Luther, BSU, in conjunction with the Diversity Center, was my second home. . . . It is through BSU that I discovered not only how strong I actually am, but also that I too have a voice. I learned very quickly that, while unfortunate, race played a huge factor in how I was seen, and being a part of the BSU helped me to better understand this.
Describe an issue that arose during your time on campus and how the BSU worked to address/change it.
The main issue that arose for me was when we started getting racist messages written on various flyers and walls in the dorms, in addition to students of color being harassed. I recall how confused, hurt, and hopeless I felt as I sat and listened to a student share his story of being pelted with eggs when he was walking on campus. Then there was the female student who was physically assaulted by a group of males, with them driving her head into the concrete. I myself was heckled one night as I was heading back from watching the movies. Initially, I felt so alone and began to wonder why I was here and whether this was truly the place for me. However, being a part of BSU was comforting in that we gathered together not only to share our experiences but also to try to brainstorm ways we could help.
Around this time we looked into having a conference with a featured speaker that would touch on these incidents. It wasn’t much, but having [antiracism activist] Tim Wise, a white man, on stage, talking about race from his vantage point and not necessarily “whitewashing” it, was good. I say this because sometimes when it’s us—those who are actually affected—speaking, people don’t always listen, because they may see it as us “playing the race card.” However, hearing from someone of their own race may lead people to reach a moment of self-discovery.
Harleigh Boldridge ’18
Americorps member and Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative coordinator; former BSU president
Describe an issue that arose during your time on campus and how the BSU worked to address/change it.
The mainstream issues during my time at Luther were complicated and never-ending. My time was marked by students feeling disconnected from the administration, disrespected by campus policies, underrepresented by faculty/staff/administration, racism in classrooms and on campus, lack of transparency with college operations and happenings, and a veiled history that could explain a lot of why Luther operates the way it does today. Racism continues to pervade campus, which has and will present serious issues concerning diverse recruitment and retention. There are many current students/faculty/staff that are doing amazing work on campus, but Luther as a whole is not ready to radically change its standard for how we engage with the “other.”
What are your hopes for the future of BSU?
I hope that BSU continues with strong leadership and activism. One of the pieces that sets BSU apart from other groups is its commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion. There was nearly a decade when BSU was dormant, and I don’t want to see that happen again. The BSU is incredibly strong right now, and I would love to see more outside financial and educational support for the group.
What should the Luther community know about your experience as a Luther student of color?
That the struggles I had to deal with were at every level of my experience: in residence halls, shopping in the community, eating in the Caf, sitting in class, walking on campus—everywhere. BSU provided a space where I could be myself and find people who, even if we didn’t agree with each other, cared for me and made it obvious that they wanted me to succeed. I am now in the Decorah community, which includes Luther, and I am doing my best where I am to create a better town surrounding the college where students can feel more accepted and understood. Change starts with all of us, and it is wholly irresponsible to think that alumni cannot continue to make waves at Luther for current students and social justice. When Development calls for your next financial gift to Luther, you can choose to support the BSU financially and support opportunities for current students to survive and thrive.
An Invitation
The yearlong BSU commemoration will culminate with a community-wide celebration, April 26–28, that will bring alumni to campus to honor BSU founders, to commemorate 50 years of BSU presence at the college, and to discuss how Luther can best continue the work of establishing racial equity and inclusion across campus. For details, visit luther.edu/alumni/events/bsu.