Monty Python Academy
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| Image from the Hollywood Reporter |
I
was convinced Terry Gilliam had ghost written the magazine article I found in The Occidental. He graduated from Oxy the year before I
started there and the article had the same combination of tongue-in-cheek and
outrageous slapstick that Gilliam had contributed to Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
As I worked my way through it chuckling to myself, it slowly dawned on
me what I initially thought came from Gilliam’s devilish imagination had in
fact actually taken place.
It
seems that students had occupied the college’s administration building on a
Monday in November of last year. The
activity was part of a nationwide demonstration in response to racially charged
events at the University
of Missouri
The
article provided a definition of the term “microaggressions” from a Columbia
Professor as “brief, everyday exchanges that send
denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.” Examples would include, “Where are you from?”
and “When did you become a vegetarian?”
As a Caucasian carnivore, it’s difficult for me to pick up on the
sinister aspects but I am assured they are present.
Olivia Davis, a theater major, was quoted as
describing the events of the day as “a manifestation
of the daily microaggressions, discrimination, and other facets of
marginalization we come to know as our college experience. … It is every day
that I have to walk through this institution internalizing all of the psychic
violence enacted on black students and students of color that makes me believe
that I do not belong here.” I would have
liked to hear what Olivia’s parents thought of her statement since they pay $63,000
a year for her to attend the school.
The article pointed to two events that may have
served as tipping points leading up to the sit-in and list of demands
1. The Desecration of the
Trayvon Memorial
On the 2-year anniversary of Martin’s death at
the hands of George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida; a package of Skittles and a
can of Arizona Iced Tea were placed in the campus Quad with the words “Rest in
Power Trayvon Martin” written in chalk. Two
students, as described by Black Student Association President Diamond Webb, “knowingly ate the Skittles and Arizona
2. End of the World
Party: Malaysian Air-ISIS-Ebola
A scheduled fraternity Halloween party was
cancelled after protests lodged by CORE (Coalition @ Oxy for Diversity and
Equity composed of faculty and students).
The CORE facebook page stated, “By mocking and sexualizing these deaths,
the participants of this party are making obvious whose lives matter and whose
do not.” The two fraternity members who
were responsible for the party’s theme were suspended. Presumably they were not the same two
students who ate the Skittles or they would have received lethal injections.
Before marching into the admin building
students loudly applauded a speech by Antoniqua Roberson who said, “We are prepared to camp here—day in,
day out, sunrise to sunset—until our demands are not only heard but actually
met.” On Friday, the fifth day since
invading the admin building, the college had ordered pizza for the occupying
students and agreed to work on the demands in the near future. The demonstrators announced they would vacate
the building. As Abhilasha Bhola, a diplomacy and world affairs major put it, “The
occupation did not solve our problems, but what it did show us is that we can
work to bring change for ourselves as we mobilize for justice.” Or in other words, “It’s the weekend for
Christ’s sake – we’re outta here.”
In the months following the demonstration, a series of meetings
involving students, faculty, administration and the Board of Trustees have
taken place. While the president
survived a motion for his resignation (83 to 45), other developments include a Chief Diversity Officer, diversity programs, and
advisory committees for campus safety, diversity and inclusion.
There
remain two proposals prompted by the demands that are now being considered by the faculty.
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| Image from CNN.com |
1. “Develop an effective mechanism for students to
address and report microaggressions or other conflicts between students and
faculty.” One can only hope that as an
alumnus, Terry Gilliam will chair these discussions with his pals John Cleese and
Michael Palin.
2. “Require all departments to incorporate issues of
cultural and racial identity and diversity into their curricula.” No, Professor Stevens, I haven't a clue how that can be done with Organic
Chemistry. Just shut up and deal with it.