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KANSAN.COM
FOUR YEAR REVIEW: NEWS
original run date:
Dec. 9,2015
File Photo/KANSAN
Demonstrators walk across Jayhawk Boulevard to Strong Ha'i
Change is possible and it's a very real expectation to have of this University and of students.
Katherine Rainey RCIH Member
For Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, demonstrations cap a tense yet rewarding semester of advocacy
▶ LARA KORTE
@Lara_Korte
he group began by entering classes in Blake and Fraser Hall and the dean of Social Welfare's office, calling for allyship before moving on to demonstrate on the steps of Wescoe Hall. The demonstrations ended in a two-hour sit-in and discussion in the cancellor's office.
Wednesday's events wrapped up a tense semester and what Kynnedi Grant, a member of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, called "a rollercoaster of emotions."
The group first emerged at the Nov. 11 town hall meeting, where members presented 15 demands and called for an administrative response to systemic discrimination against minorities on campus.
During the same meeting, Grant gave an account of her own experience of an alleged hate crime. Since then, Grant and other members have been meeting with faculty members, attending department forums and talking with students in an effort to continue advocating their demands.
Grant said she feels the group has experienced more growth in the past three months than most people would experience in five years.
"It's challenged us as people first — our humanity and why we do what we do. It's challenged our friendships. It's challenged our relationships, our professionalism," she said. "It's challenged us in so many
ways that are just on a scale that people never really experience sometimes in a lifetime."
Grant said that although the work has been stressful and exhausting, it's important.
"People see us as leaders and as people that they trust to use their voices," Grant said. "They trust us to voice on behalf of them, because they either can't physically do it themselves, they're not able, or they vocally can't articulate what they're experiencing. And it's just the most humbling thing to have people that trust what you're saying and trust that you're going to be representative and inclusive all the time."
Although Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk has focused largely over the past month on combating anti-black racism, the group has made a point to consider intersectionality by being an advocate for all marginalized groups on campus. During the demonstrations on Wednesday, Grant, along with Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk members Jyleesa Hampton, Caleb Stephens and Katherine Rainey spoke about issues facing LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities, mental health care on campus, and creating a safe space for students of color.
Stephens said it's important on issues like these to be supportive of each other.
"Oftentimes when you experience racism, sexism or any of the '-isms,' you get worn down, and you feel like you're all alone so
you just try to survive, you go into survival mode," Stephens said. "Oftentimes, speaking to the different students of color and the different intersectionalities, we're saying, 'We're fighting for you too, and you can fight for yourself, and we'll be here, and we'll stand with you.'"
For Rainey, one of the main things she has taken away from the semester is that change is possible.
"I'm in awe, and I'm definitely humbled by the amount of students that have come out in support of us, and again, acknowledge us as leaders and as people they can trust to carry forward," Rainey said. "Change is possible, and it's a very real expectation to have of this University and of students."
The group has been publicly supported by several departments and organizations on campus, including the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Black Student Union, the communications department, African and African American Studies and the School of Social Welfare, among others.
Rainey also said the group has received support from the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council.
"To see that there are people who understand that in the context of this, it is way bigger than them, and they need to reach out and they need to ask what they can do, really makes a difference and that lets us know that our message is getting through, and it lets
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us know that there are systemic changes that can be made," Rainey said.
A large part of the group's mission over the last month has been allyship and inclusion. Grant said she wants to challenge every person, regardless of privilege or identities, to be an advocate for marginalized and minority peoples.
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"I am glad to hear that there are some deadlines being set, and that's the biggest thing that's come out of this," Rainey said. "I think I will be satisfied when they make and release a statement, that I'll determine my feeling about us going forward and the way we interact."
- Edited by Leah Sitz
Rainey said that although she thinks it is promising they are meeting with administration, she remains skeptical on how interactions will look in the future.
"As the [advisory board] is working, it may be there will be some areas that say we have this in place," Gray-Little said. "Others will say we don't have it in place, but we can have it done in this amount of time."
On Monday, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said administration has been looking at issues that pertain to the demands through the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board.
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Grant and Rainey said Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk would meet with Senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Sara Rosen on Friday to discuss demands and how to move forward.
"Looking outside yourself is such a beautiful challenge, and I love it," Grant said. "There is a role for everyone, even if you can do as much as filter hate mail, or to defend us on social media to control the narrative of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk being a movement that is productive and fighting for change."
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