BSAA is a Good IDEA For a First Step

In response to the recent demonstrations surrounding racial inequality across the country, Marist College has focused on building the safest environment possible for students of color and ensuring that they have a platform to voice their opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Source: Greta Stuckey

This summer, Marist College Athletics announced the creation of the Black Student-Athlete Alliance (BSAA). According to their Instagram, the group, headed by five student-athletes, aims to create an “uplifting community while giving a voice to the Black student-athletes.” As only 4% of undergraduate students at Marist identify as Black or African-American, the creation of BSAA was essential to ensure every community of students has allies in the fight for racial equality. 

On Aug. 21, the Marist Athletics Department partnered with the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) Committee to help enact their views and improve campus culture with adherence to four main pillars: education, campus community engagement, relationships and recruitment of diverse Athletic Department staff and student-athletes.

These two new alliances have given Marist the means to improve their diversity relations in the future by “reviewing school policy and making recommendations, connecting with the campus community and creating a sense of family among BIPOC student-athletes,” which is stated on the Marist Athletics website. Is this the beginning of trying to create equality and a positive environment for colored students in a predominantly white campus community? Yes. Is it over? Absolutely not. 

If people start to see a change in their communities, they shouldn’t stop there. If they do, social injustice will prevail and the slight progress gained will have meant nothing for the people fighting for the present and future generations. I first saw this in 2013 with the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. It was the first incident of police brutality that sparked interest across the country that I remember. Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, received no punishment for killing the unarmed teen with whom he got into a physical altercation during Martin’s walk home from a convenience store. 

Many more incidents happened from 2013 to 2019­—Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Stephon Clark to name a few—but public attention remained brief, leading people to forget about the cause that they were fighting for. 

With the formation of the BSAA, Marist is finally starting to give these unfairly-lost lives some semblance of justice by supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students and working to end racism on campus. Since May, after news circulated of a student pictured alongside a racial slur, Marist has made significant improvements for BIPOC students to the campus environment, including the implementation of the BSAA. 

After the social media incident, President Dennis J. Murray sent an email regarding the protests after the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Just nine days later, Murray issued another communication announcing that the college would observe June 19, known as “Juneteenth” as a holiday, thus demonstrating initiative. 

“This day also provides us with an opportunity to reflect on this aspect of our history and how our country can more fully live up to its ideals,” Murray said. “I’ll look forward to working with all of you to ensure that Marist is also fulfilling its ideal of creating a community in which everyone feels welcome, valued, and supported.”

In another email, Murray wrote that he and his peers were open to listening to students, faculty and alumni for any ideas to create a safer environment at Marist, which led to the inception of the BSAA and IDEA. 

This is a fantastic stride for the college to guarantee all students to feel at ease when they are on campus. I praise Marist for the walk for Black Lives Matter on Sept. 2 as a way to maintain this momentum. 

Still, I believe there is more to be done to bring more change for the better. Once sports resume, the BSAA, IDEA, student-athletes and coaches should follow in the footsteps of what professional athletes have been doing and send a message. Make it clear why our community refuses to be satisfied with what has been achieved so far and demand more progress for BIPOC students and individuals as a united campus.