Sociology major senior Nikko Garmendiz (pictured above) speaks at the first offical F.A.R.I documentary series event. Garmendiz is an organizer for the series along with communication major senior Donat De La Cruz (Courtesy of Pavel Ananev).
In April 2019, a series of Snapchats were posted to a Geneseo student’s Snapchat story of a pair of students in charcoal face masks with the caption “blackface and sunsets with my bae.” This sparked activism for students of color throughout the campus, with activist organizations still pushing for change this semester. One of these organizations, Fighting Against Racial Injustice is hosting a documentary series discussing whether or not the racial climate at Geneseo has changed in the past decade.
At the pilot for the documentary series, a 2007 film was shown exemplifying the state of racial relations in Geneseo. In the film, students of color are shown talking about issues such as blackface and cultural appropriation. They explain that they often felt uncomfortable because of white students’ actions and ignorance.
At the pilot viewing, students expressed frustration regarding how the administration has handled past racial issues. One issue in particular that was mentioned is the power dynamic between students and administrators. Students said that they feel almost powerless when talking to administrators.
Attendees voiced that when a racist incident occurs on campus, they feel school officials play it off as an isolated event. One attendee described a situation where in the past, administrators have said these issues would all be gone once the students advocating for change graduated.
Alumni in the room said that they felt not much has changed since their time at Geneseo. As the discussion went on, alumni and students listed racist incidents that have occurred during their time on campus, saying incidents mimicked one another from year to year.
This documentary series was organized by communication major senior Donat De La Cruz and sociology major senior Nikko Garmendiz.
According to Garmendiz, the goal for F.A.R.I. is to “keep the ball rolling” from last semester’s initiatives.
“We want to work with administration,” Garmendiz said. “We realize there’s a flip side to the coin where the administration isn’t necessarily doing what we want, but we also are receptive that we need to participate in that process.”
De La Cruz said that F.A.R.I. isn’t solely about racial injustice per se. He believes it’s important to demonstrate advocacy for all issues, whether that be climate change or women’s rights. He placed emphasis on how important it is to him that students of all different backgrounds work together to make a change.
“How [the administration] want to change those things is where they lack experience because they’re so used to their norm, or way of doing things right,” De La Cruz said. “In The Mis-Education of the Negro [written by Carter G. Woodson], it points out [that] the same system that makes you aware that you are being oppressed isn’t going to be the same system that gives you the tools to get out of that oppression. You can be grateful for being aware, but then you have to think outside the box in order to create results.”
De La Cruz said that he ultimately believes the only way to create true change is to identify harmful norms so that culture can be changed, resulting in new traditions that can be passed down year after year.
The Office of Diversity and Equity, led by Chief Diversity Officer robbie routenberg, has instituted changes this semester in hopes to create civil discourse about racial issues among students.
“This year was the first year that we did a full required event during the Weekend of Welcome for all new students around issues of inclusion,” routenberg said. “It was titled Cultivating an Inclusive Community. We had a speaker … and small group dialogues … we were overwhelmed in such a positive way with the turnout and we will continue to improve that program.”
routenberg worked over the summer in conjunction with Residence Life, the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services, the University Police Department and a team of students to reform the bias incident reporting and response system.
“We wanted to get lots of students’ feedback before we launched it,” routenberg said. “And then even as we launch, we still want to remain open to student comments, things that are going to help it be even better. There will be an updated reporting form that will be available to everybody to use. That’ll make it very easy for anybody to let a centralized body know when something happens.”
At the F.A.R.I. pilot, students expressed they felt Geneseo was being complacent, especially last semester.
Director of Multicultural Programs and Services Sasha Eloi-Evans said she believes that most of the time at institutions, everyone is waiting for someone else to respond, which results in slow response time.
“I think the conundrum that a lot of institutions are in is that what we can respond with is typically a legal sort of stance that institutions take,” Eloi-Evans said. She continued saying, “What we lose is being empathetic towards students who are harmed … an institution has a responsibility to be responsible, right? An institution can’t infringe on anyone’s rights. But what an institution can do is take care of those who have been harmed without infringing on other’s rights.”
When it comes to generating ideas on how exactly that can be done, De La Cruz has a few suggestions. For one, De La Cruz said he recommends allowing students to control a portion of the endowment to put towards what they think is valuable.
“I want students to, one; create their own power and tell their own history,” De La Cruz said. “I want that space to exist … autonomously from the school because I want the story to be told by students for students … once you add texture to stories because you hear their voices, you see their faces. I feel like administration won’t have a choice but to help or at least they’ll have enough information to know how to help.”
De La Cruz went on to say that the school should invest less in tactics that aren’t working and more in tactics that he believes are, such as programs put on by cultural clubs and F.A.R.I.
According to De La Cruz, F.A.R.I. is piloting a program in which they bring different cultural club into Jones Hall so that residents are exposed to these different clubs, as well as different cultures.
“[The administration is] just throwing money at a sinking ship,” De La Cruz said. “Take that money and allocate it towards [programs] that are successful.”
Eloi-Evans also speaks on the importance of cultural clubs, naming them as an asset to the campus. She said that it is important to remember why these clubs were created: to accommodate and give these students their own space. So while these clubs provide valuable education for the rest of the campus, it is important to remember that they first need to take care of themselves to do that.
De La Cruz said he agrees with the recommendation many students and professors have argued in the past—implementing either a required western humanities or black studies course into the curriculum.
When asked whether or not this is feasible, routenberg said “The curriculum is all under development … so that it can be looked at, and changes can be made … [The curriculum] should be something that we really believe reflects Geneseo today. If students have ideas of things they want, this is the time to bring it up and to work through academic affairs and the Curriculum Development Working Group, to have that voice be known.”
Organizations like F.A.R.I are paving the way for change on campus. The next event in the F.A.R.I documentary series will be Oct. 2.