Roger Worthington visited campus March 1 to give the third installment of the Educating a Diverse Nation speaker series. He began with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
He showed examples of student demonstrations held across various college campus. These included racial protests on college campuses, but focused on the hunger strike at the University of Missouri campus by student Jonathan Butler. The actions would lead to the strike of the football team and the eventual resignation of the president at the time.
College is thought of as a time when students will be able to come together and learn about different perspectives and grow. The problem is that experience is not the same depending on the individual.
A study from 2007 found that when individuals are asked about certain issues on campus, minorities tended to respond negatively.
“Those in minority groups perceive the campus more negatively, less welcoming, as more hostile, as less fair, as less inclusive,” Worthington said.
The same study showed benefits from cross-racial engagement. Those benefits could be economic, like greater income, or less tangible, like fewer prejudices.
Deep searching and civil dialogue is one of the essential features of a vibrant academic community, Worthington said. He gave the example of safe spaces where authentic ideas could start to grow.
Daniel Klinestiver, a freshman philosophy major, said he would like to continue to see more programs like this talk put on by Ball State.
“It’s really important to hear perspectives that are different from mine so I can learn how I can be supportive of people who come from different backgrounds," Klinestiver said.
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