By Laura Sanicola
Courtesy of United Student Government at Lincoln Center Facebook
In response to a racial bias incident that occurred at the Lincoln Center campus Wednesday afternoon, the United Student Government at Lincoln Center (USGLC) is creating an ad-hoc committee “with the purpose of combating these issues and finding tenable solutions,” according to a statement released earlier today.
The committee will be open to various club leaders and members of the Fordham Lincoln Center committee, according to executive president Leighton Magoon, FCLC ’17.
“The point is to find a concrete solution,” Magoon said. “And not for just USG [to be] involved.”
Students learned of the incident at Lincoln Center from an email from Fr. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, sent a university-wide email alerting the university of the removal of a swastika and white supremacist speech from a Lowenstein bathroom, Magoon reported from Lincoln Center. McShane referred to the incident as a “kind of terrorism” in his email.
“People are angry but they should be angry,” Magoon said. “This is an incident that should never occur at any campus…we need to take a look at our curriculum and what is being taught at schools and who is being represented and why it is it that we have a culture that people on campus hear about that and think its just a joke and its not in fact a joke.”
Magoon called the entire Fordham student body to evaluate their role in Fordham’s race relations.
“This is a problem that Fordham university as a whole needs to look at because students of color shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable in the bathroom and in the classroom,” Lagoon said. “We really need to look at ourselves in the mirror.”
Following a meeting held at Lincoln Center on Thursday 12:30 p.m., USGLC issued the following statement:
United Student Government is angry and disgusted by the act of hate that took place on our Lincoln Center Campus. USG stands in solidarity with all who have been affected by this incident as well as those affected by events across the country.
It is outrageous that the racism that we have seen at college campuses exists at our Lincoln Center home. Although we do not know who committed the act, as members of the Fordham Lincoln Center community we share a responsibility in responding to this act of hatred and reflecting on ways to move forward. This has been the third incident of this semester and our Fordham community is still reeling and recognizing the need for a response.
In response to these incidents, United Student Government at Lincoln Center is creating an ad hoc committee with the purpose of combating these issues and finding tenable solutions. Please contact us at usglc@fordham.edu if you are interested in being a part of this initiative or have any concerns.
In solidarity,
United Student Government Lincoln Center
To continue the discussion of race relations and how they affect campuses across the country, a “blackout” organized by the FCLC United Student Government, Fordham Students United, Muslim Students Alliance, Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice Community Organizing working group and various other student organizations will be held tomorrow at the Lincoln Center campus, Magoon said.
A Facebook post advertising the event announced that the blackout will take place during the gap between the 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. classes and advises students to wear black if they would like to participate. The event will culminate in the Outdoor Plaza at 12:45 p.m. where students will “speak out on racism and bigotry at Fordham and across the country as well as take a picture to share on social media in solidarity with students at Mizzou and elsewhere,” according to the post. The event was organized before the Wednesday afternoon bias incident at Lincoln Center was reported.
