I will always remember
the white man with white hair and white yogurt, who thought I, a brown girl, would shoot him.
While walking through Old Main and heading for the stairs, a professor stepped in front of me. He was unaware that I was behind him and walked slowly, spooning yogurt into his mouth. When we got to the stairs, he stopped, scraped the edges of the yogurt cup, and pushed the last bit into his mouth. Then, he spun 180 degrees to throw his trash away.
This is when he finally saw me.
“Woah. I am sorry. I didn’t see you there,” he said.
“No worries. I am in no hurry,” I responded.
“Oh thank God,” he chuckled, “at least you didn’t shoot me.”
“Shoot you?” I asked.
“Well yeah, you know how y’all are.” He responded.
“Y’all? You mean Mexicans?” I asked.
He turned red as he attempted to retract his racial slur.
He was unsuccessful. Later, I attempted to learn his name.
I, too, was unsuccessful.
As images of protests and phrases like Black Lives Matter flash across our screens. we watch racism in America reach a breaking point. This leaves us wondering how we can make it better. Maybe it even leaves some of us wondering: will it get better?
While stories of racism at Baylor can be seen as isolated incidents by some, when added with the stories of other minorities, it creates a mosaic.
Baylor has been a leader throughout its history. However, an area the university has not led is with race relations on campus.Robert F. Darden, a professor of journalism, public relations, and new media, has watched this history unfold during his time at Baylor as a professor and a student.
“Baylor was the first co-ed college west of the Mississippi. It actually should have been a leader from that point on, but being in the deep south, there were decades where African Americans were not welcome to walk even on the [edge] of campus. If you listen to the stories in oral history from African Americans in Waco, right up through the early ’60s, it was considered a ‘no-go’ zone. There were Baylor faculty and administrators that were in the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and ’30s. There were African Americans on campus, but they did the maintenance work,” Darden said.
It was not until 1966 that Baylor hired its first Black professor on campus, Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes.
“I grew up in the air force which was integrated with its founding…all of a sudden I show up in this lily white environment where there are few Black athletes, a few Black students, no Black administrators, and one Black teacher,” Darden said. “Very quickly, I knew who Dr. Malone-
Mayes was. I never had a class with her, but very early that fall I remember walking across campus and seeing her. She was tall and beautifully dressed in the heat of summer. Nobody got off the sidewalk when she came by, nobody made a fuss…and I was struck by how alone she seemed. There was like a bubble around her that just broke my heart. To see this proud, beautiful woman walking, knowing there were probably days where nobody talked to her. Although, she always said her colleagues in the math department were gracious and accepting. be the first of anything has to be hard. To be the first Black woman at a southern college, there is no way you can make that person feel as welcome as they deserve to feel.”
Even though Baylor broke the color line over a half century ago, a growing community of Baylor students and alumni are expressing concern over the lack of diversity of color among faculty.
“We’re not where we were, praise the Lord, but won’t ne content because we lose people every year. We want to make it as friendly and welcoming as possible.”
Dominque Hill, Director of Wellness and a member of Baylor’s Commission on Historic Campus Representation, has worked at Baylor for 13 years now. During this time he has become an activist on campus, working for and with both students and faculty.
“I have been very intentional about helping to create a positive and supportive environment for faculty and staff of color, more specifically Black faculty and staff,” Hill said.
“I have been very intentional in creating a space for them to feel like they have a community of people they can engage with while they are here, because sometimes they can go a whole day [without] seeing another professional person of color. When I first arrived at Baylor, I was the only Black male in the entire Division of Student Life … for the first two years. So, I knew how that felt for me. I felt like there was a lot of pressure. I was intentional about trying to create opportunities for people [of color] to feel welcome so they can stay here. When you are the only person in a dual community – Black and male – how people engage you can be challenging. Some people had never worked with a Black male before. So some people didn’t know how to talk to Black men. I had to quickly explain to people that I am not the voice of all Black people. I was so grateful when we started hiring more Black men.”
Hill said he decided the people being hired needed to feel a sense of community. His response? Quarterly lunches for new minority hires on campus. This process eventually led to the Black Faculty and Staff Association. This support system aims to help faculty and staff of color feel connected, respected, and, ultimately, at home at Baylor. As Hill works toward earning his Ph.D., he has been researching reasons why Baylor does not have more faculty of color.
“I think God has chosen me and many other faculty and staff of color at Baylor to help them create a more just and equitable learning environment.”
“We hired a lot of people in 2017, [but] many of those people are gone now,” Hill said. “The retention piece is huge. People don’t stay because they don’t feel supported in their areas a lot of times. Sometimes they leave because they don’t feel valued. People have left because they felt like Baylor did not support them culturally, so I have been trying to help Baylor understand those things when I hear them. We’re not where we were, praise the Lord, but won’t be content because we lose people every year. We want to make it as friendly and welcoming as possible.”
While retention is one thing the university needs to fix, another problem arises from the hiring process. Darden has noticed this problem as a routine member of journalism, public relations, and new media hiring committees.
“Baylor has a policy on hiring committees. You [can] only bring two people to campus to interview, but if one of the candidates is a minority, you can bring a third. We would get back and committees would meet and we would ask them for their first set of paperwork, then every single case, they would be hired by top tier schools before we ever got them to campus,” Darden said. “And the journalism department meets very quickly, compared to some. There were a number of people who didn’t get hired and didn’t come to Baylor because the hiring committees were still meeting in March. It wasn’t really until the arrival of Dr. Livingstone and Provost Brickhouse that I began to feel like Baylor made serious, aggressive moves to increase diversity.”
Whitney Jones, associate director for orientation in New Student Programs, works very closely with student leaders and new students. Jones explained the need for better retention rates among faculty and staff.
“I do believe that God put me at Baylor. He put me at Baylor to be an advocate and a voice for people who may be voiceless, to support our students,” she said. “If all the faculty and staff of color left Baylor, that would leave our students of color with no one to help them get through difficult times. I think God has chosen me and many other faculty and staff of color at Baylor to help them create a more just and equitable learning environment.”
Baylor is working to change this decades-old story of lacking diversity. As administrations is initiating change, Baylor, once again, looks to become a leader. Members of the faculty, staff, student body, and administration are exhibiting humility in recognizing the past and trying to correct its role in the present. In beginning this process the university released a statement, part of which read:
“We acknowledge some early Baptist leaders owned enslaved persons, held racial views common in that era, supported Confederate causes and engaged in the fight to preserve slavery – including Baylor’s three founders, most of the University’s initial trustees, and other early BU leaders. We denounce racism in all its forms as being inconsistent with Baylor’s Christian mission and the teachings of Jesus Christ, and remain committed to instituting tangible and systemic changes to ensure fair and equitable policies and practices. We recognize the need to strengthen our commitment to a vibrant, diverse campus community. We will intentionally listen to those affected by racism, take steps to increase racial and ethnic diversity of our students, faculty, staff and administration, and recognize the significant contributions of the Black community throughout Baylor’s history.”
Recognition of contributions from people of color is an important narrative to tell. Not only will it show that Baylor has some semblance of a diverse past, but that we honor it today.
At this time, Baylor has two statues of a Black person on campus: the statue of Robert Griffin III by McLane Stadium and a bust of Dr. Malone-Mayes outside the mathematics department in the Sid Richardson Building. Any statue of a person of color is a victory, however, we have many new options in the field of academia to consider. One way this could change for the future is through Baylor’s attempts to acknowledge our past and grow from it. Further explanation on Baylor’s path outline the initial steps the university will take.
“One of the first steps is to establish a Commission on Historic Campus Representations at Baylor University, an advisory committee that will review the history of statues, monuments, buildings and other aspects of campus in reference to their physical location, pavement and naming. By the end of the Fall 2020 semester, the Commission will provide its observations for consideration by the administration and Board,” the university’s statement also read.
Looking to Baylor’s history is a starting point. Some have suggested changing the names of buildings and removing or adding statues to create a more inclusive atmosphere on campus. Dr. Robert Elder, an assistant professor of history, said he understood the desire that some have to make changes across the university’s landscape.
“Compared to other places I have taught, Baylor is a much more visibly diverse place, in the sense of people walking around campus,” he said. “That is great. I know there is always room to do more about that, but Baylor’s percentage of students who come from minority backgrounds is really pretty high for a school of its size and where it sits in the national higher education scene. The other part of it is, I also completely understand the observation that minority students make. Baylor is still a very white, non-minority space in how it operates culturally. There are a lot of minority students on campus, but also the way Baylor operates and the way it presents itself culturally, seem to be tailored toward the majority population on campus which is also the majority population of faculty and administrators.”
The challenge of looking into Baylor’s past is a major step in creating a culturally responsive environment. This, however, must expand beyond the physical realm of campus. As the United States once again navigates a national conversation of racial reform, Baylor is also feeling this movement from students. Minorities are being heard by Baylor faculty, staff, and administration. We are being heard and promised change.
One forum in which Baylor students are sharing their stories is through social media.
@DearBaylor, an Instagram account, recounts anonymous stories from minority students struggling with acceptance at Baylor. Some tell of educating friends, some about microaggressions, and some about inappropriate incidents with faculty. Baylor
was not the sole or first community to have a social media profile created to document the person of color experience, it is only one piece of a national movement. The campaign began with @DearPWI, or Predominantly White Institutions. This forum resulted in many replica community accounts and examples of innovative storytelling in the modern age.
“@DearBaylor is an online forum that invites people of color to share their experiences from their time at Baylor University. We do not work for Baylor University, we do not officially represent the university, but we are a part of the student body. College can be a particularly intimidating place for people of color, as it has historically acted as a barrier for minorities in America. To this day, feeling unheard, unseen, or unwanted are experiences that Black, Indigenous, and other students, staff, and faculty members of color often share at predominantly white institutions, ” the group’s leadership said.
Some think this method of digital, direct action is working. Minorities are being heard by Baylor faculty, staff, and administration. Students of color are being heard and promised change.
“Hearing people’s stories is really going to make a difference. @DearBaylor is hard and hurtful. I want people to enjoy their moments and make a great transition, that is not everybody’s reality. I have had to sit and [ask], where did we go wrong and how can we do better? It hurts because I want everybody to do well. Because that didn’t happen then I need to do better,” Jones said.
On August 12, 2020, President Linda Livingstone commented on the @DearBaylor page.
“I have read every single one of the heartbreaking stories posted on @DearBaylor, reflecting incidents of racism at Baylor that date back many years. These stories cut against the core of who we ought to be as Christians and the caring community for which Baylor strives to be. As Christians, we are called to love and respect. Recognizing one another as created in the image of God requires treating each other with great dignity, and @DearBaylor gives us sobering examples of our family being denied dignity. As a University, we have pledged to tackle these difficult conversations regarding race and social justice backed by actionable steps, beginning with the immediate actions shared earlier in June. In addition to @DearBaylor, we have heard from the Baylor Chapter of the NAACP, Black Student Coalition, LatinX Coalition and Coalition of Asian Students. We plan to communicate further with the campus community next Wednesday, August 19, prior to the start of the semester. We appreciate the many contributions of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni of color. You are an important part of the Baylor family,” she said.
The strength of students talking and taking action followed by those in power listening creates a dialogue and relationship that has been missing for past students. Administrators working to promote this change is only a start, though.
“As racial issues at Baylor become more apparent, many people have messaged us with suggestions for next steps and plans of action. We are happy to see that so many people are ready to take action. But we hope it is clear that this platform alone cannot produce all necessary change. Change requires a community of leaders to create and run many different initiatives. You have already taken a step in favor of change by reading and learning about POC experiences at Baylor. But it is the responsibility of each individual to take the next step. We are excited to see each of you take the next step,” @DearBaylor reported.
President Livingstone has announced that she will be keeping a dialogue going. This process may take time, as is the nature of cultural responsiveness, but there is hope in her pledge.
“As president, I am firmly committed to ongoing open conversations and the hard work ahead of confronting systemic racism, injustice and inequality at our University, historic and cultural representations on our campus and the deeply painful experiences of racism shared by current and former students, faculty and staff,” Livingstone said.
While members of the Baylor Family look for reconciliation and atonement, change will only come when words become action, though. We must remember what it truly means to be the hands and feet of Our Lord.
Jones explained what she thinks are the first steps to change.
“I think Baylor needs to improve with education and cultural awareness. I think that is where Baylor has to start. You do that by being intentional with education and learning. I mean truly immersing yourself in environments. Number two, I think we need to be honest. Let’s just call it what it is. ..
. In order to get beyond [past pains], we have to address the hard things. Number three, listening. We need to be able to sit in a difficult place and hear people’s stories and what has been their reality, ” Jones said.
Mya Ellington-Williams, Little Rock, AK senior, is a student member of the Commission on Historic Campus Representation. She explained what she would like to see from Baylor.
“We find pride in our Baylor experiences and traditions, but we have to recognize and realize that even though it should be the same for all students, it isn’t. That is what we are fighting for and working on. Making sure that when people are excited to come to Baylor, whether they are Black, White, Hispanic or Asian, they have access to this Baylor experience,” she said.
