Special education major senior Micha Ferraro (pictured above) is heavily involved in continuous advocacy work at Geneseo, where she helps bring attention to incidents on campus that make BIPOC students feel unsafe and unwelcome. She wants to help create change on campus to make BIPOC students feel more comfortable, as well as more supported and safe (Picture courtesy of Micha Ferraro).
There have been many incidents throughout the past year on the Geneseo campus and beyond that have made BIPOC students feel unsafe and unwelcome. Change needs to happen in order for BIPOC students to begin to feel safe again, and one student is working to do just that. Special education major senior Micha Ferraro discussed via email the type of activism work that she does on campus and why it is needed.
Ferraro explained her activism, along with some of the challenges that the BIPOC community encounters on campus.
“I like to think of myself as a student advocate/activist. Activism work in itself is a large category and something that means far more. I am the president of the Black Student Union and I mentor a lot of underclassmen on campus. I advocate for the students’ nobody else will. Our school neglects and ignores the BIPOC community anytime we express concern for safety or bring an issue forward,” Ferraro said. “We want to love our school, we want to feel safe in this community, but that cannot happen when you attend a school that does not believe in upholding anti-racist ideologies.”
Ferraro believes it is not only important to show the Geneseo community what occurs on campus, but she also thinks it is important to publicize the incidents that occur on campus to a larger community of people.
“My main ‘activism work’ [centers] around publicizing what goes on here at SUNY Geneseo. Showing not only our community the harsh realities of this racist campus but [also] showing the world,” Ferraro said. “Using social media as an outlet to [shed] light on the normalcies we face every day as an underrepresented community on this campus.”
Ferraro stated that she began activism work so students who came to this school knew that someone cares.
“The school never responds in the right way and never makes our community feel safe, so it is up to the students to show the students coming after us that we are at least trying to create change so that they stay here,” Ferraro said. “The retention rate for BIPOC students at this school reflects the environment. We attend a racist institution that has no regard for the safety of BIPOC students, which is why they leave after their first year, even sometimes after their first semester.”
Ferraro added that she has some specific goals for the recent incidents that have occurred on campus.
“Specifically in light of recent events, my goal is to show the administration how much of an impact these events have on the community, and I want to show them the implications of their decision to paint over the tree instead of just taking proper action against a student that has been destroying the community they claim to care about,” Ferraro said.
As someone who does student advocate work, Ferraro shares advice with students who may want to become activists in the future, but are not sure how to, or where to start.
“My only advice would be to push for the things you care about and to not be afraid of what people will think about you. Use your voice for whatever you feel it is intended to be used for. Do not let fear of public reaction steer you away from making a difference,” Ferraro said.