University of Kwazulu-Natal

Student Activism Institutional Amnesia And Power Ejournal Of Public

Bonisiwe Shabane
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student activism institutional amnesia and power ejournal of public

Student Activism, Institutional Amnesia, and Narrative (Re)Construction: Lessons from Brandeis University’s #FordHall2015 Protests Fall 2015 marked the convergence of Black student activism to address racial issues across college campuses with the author’s fifth year as a doctoral student at Brandeis University. In this article, the author reflects upon her personal experiences with student activism at Brandeis in general and specifically with Black student activism on campus that fall. She focuses on the events immediately surrounding the 12-day occupation of the administration office by a group that came to be known as #FordHall2015. From her vantage as a critical race and social movement scholar, a Black woman, and a doctoral student, she identifies structural patterns in resistance and counter resistance around racially centered student activism. She examines how institutional amnesia and narrative framing are employed strategically to protect institutional power and interests, and then presents potential approaches to advancing racial justice changes despite these strategies.

Fall 2015 marked the start of an academic year of student activism nationwide (Pohle, 2015b; Ransby, 2015). Two weeks before Thanksgiving, a group of students at Brandeis University, initially referred to as “Concerned Students 2015,” presented the university president with a list of demands which included (but was not limited to)... They gave the president and the Brandeis board of trustees 24 hours to respond. When the president did not comply immediately, between 20 and 100 students occupied the president’s office for 12 consecutive days (Fontes, 2015; Moran, 2015; Ransom, 2015; Thys, 2015). The group became known as #FordHall2015, in honor of the 1969 Black student occupation of Brandeis’ student union building. The occupation became the epicenter of campus-wide racialized student mobilization.

The 2015 events that this article focuses upon were not sparked by one particular incident but rather a confluence of existing racialized experiences on campus, inspiration from the student protests at the University of... As a Black woman, a critical race and social movement scholar, and a fifth-year doctoral candidate at Brandeis’ Heller School of Social Policy and Management, I experienced the events of fall 2015 from vantage... Throughout and immediately following the #FordHall2015 occupation, I witnessed first-hand how, in the throes of racial controversy, Brandeis responded with evasion, misstatements, and organizational amnesia. As both a scholar in this field and a student leader in the doctoral program, I was deeply disappointed and felt challenged by this response. In this article, I reflect on strategies that powerful actors such as universities employ to maintain power and explore possible ways to resist these strategies. While this reflection focuses on one particular institution, the lessons here are not exclusive to Brandeis University and likely apply to many other institutional settings.

In the following sections, I define key concepts, describe my relationship to the Brandeis University #FordHall2015 case, provide a brief history of specific student protests at Brandeis, reflect on the #FordHall2015 experience, and offer... Within the literature of organizational theory, there is an established area of research about institutional memory and forgetting. This research examines how organizations intentionally or unintentionally retain or neglect information for organizational functioning. For example, it may be important for an organization to have a record of past challenges so as to not repeat them, but it may be equally important to forget certain organizational habits in... In this article, I view organizational forgetting, or “institutional amnesia,” as an intentional strategy to preserve and protect power. Home > EJOPA > EJOPA > Vol.

5 > Iss. 2 (2016) Fall 2015 marked the convergence of Black student activism to address racial issues across college campuses with the author’s fifth year as a doctoral student at Brandeis University. In this article, the author reflects upon her personal experiences with student activism at Brandeis in general and specifically with Black student activism on campus that fall. She focuses on the events immediately surrounding the 12-day occupation of the administration office by a group that came to be known as #FordHall2015. From her vantage as a critical race and social movement scholar, a Black woman, and a doctoral student, she identifies structural patterns in resistance and counter resistance around racially centered student activism.

She examines how institutional amnesia and narrative framing are employed strategically to protect institutional power and interests, and then presents potential approaches to advancing racial justice changes despite these strategies. Liu, Callie Watkins (2016) "Student Activism, Institutional Amnesia, and Narrative (Re)Construction: Lessons from Brandeis University’s #FordHall2015 Protests," eJournal of Public Affairs: Vol. 5: Iss. 2, Article 10. DOI: 10.21768/ejopa.v5i2.10 Available at: https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/ejopa/vol5/iss2/10 Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Download PDF It is with great sadness that we tell you that on August 17, 2016, we lost our colleague… Download PDF Memories of College Activism in an Undocumented Student Support Group Abstract In this reflection, the author—a communications officer… Download PDF Student Activism, Institutional Amnesia, and Narrative (Re)Construction: Lessons from Brandeis University’s #FordHall2015 Protests Abstract Fall 2015 marked the… Download PDF Community Colleges and Educating for Democracy Abstract The community college is widely viewed as an institution of democracy.… Download PDF The American Electoral Process: A Never-Ending "Teachable Moment" Abstract Elections at all levels of government offer an excellent… Fall 2015 marked the convergence of Black student activism to address racial issues across college campuses with the author’s fifth year as a doctoral student at Brandeis University.

In this article, the author reflects upon her personal experiences with student activism at Brandeis in general and specifically with Black student activism on campus that fall. She focuses on the events immediately surrounding the 12-day occupation of the administration office by a group that came to be known as #FordHall2015. From her vantage as a critical race and social movement scholar, a Black woman, and a doctoral student, she identifies structural patterns in resistance and counter resistance around racially centered student activism. She examines how institutional amnesia and narrative framing are employed strategically to protect institutional power and interests, and then presents potential approaches to advancing racial justice changes despite these strategies. Using the contingency theory of conflict management as a theoretical framework, the study sought both parties' (institution and student activist group) stances along the continuum of pure advocacy to pure accommodation. The study also examined whether recent student groups applied radical activist strategies, and if institutions employed conflict resolution strategies.

Results indicate both parties were advocating, with only institutions moving along the continuum from advocacy to pure accommodation. Students were found to execute radical activist strategies and institutions' responses were dominantly unconditionally constructive. Protests addressing racial inequality during the past decade have consistently disproven the idea of a post-racial society. Demonstrations focusing on issues from police brutality to education reform have illuminated outrage and intolerance by various audiences. The protestors bring attention to new forms of racist acts that are not as pronounced as those in prior centuries. Scholars resolve that overt acts of past years are now hidden in systemic policy and procedures.

These policies serve as vehicles for institutionalized, structured racism. Such institutions include American colleges and universities. Historically, underrepresented students have not been reluctant to express their displeasure with inequities and mistreatment by peers and administrators. Birthed out the civil rights movement and the Higher Education Act of 1965, the first Black Student Union (BSU) was formed in 1966 with the purpose of demanding an accepting environment for black students... The movement of student activism grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s but its focus became less activism and more reactionary. A resurgence of the original BSU mission has begun, with students organizing and demanding respect while announcing grievances.

In 2014, an activist group at Harvard Law demanded the removal of a seal bearing the crest of a viciously cruel slave owner, and in 2015, a Yale activist group demanded the firing of... As more and more students protest, the resounding question becomes, how are administrators and change agents responding? Public relations strategies and practices in higher education are essential to effective dialogue and actions. This study will examine University administrators' responses to student activist groups and determine the efficacy of these groups. 1. Literature review 1.1.

Activism Student activism is certainly not a new phenomenon to academe or scholarship. Researchers have written about student activist 366 pp. ISBN 9780520296224) provides accounts of Black student activism on college and university campuses throughout the United States. The Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at Northwestern University explores selected college and university campuses as case studies, chronicling the power and impact of Black student activism in the late 60s. Using archival research and oral histories, Biondi's 278-page work provides insight into how Black students revolutionized higher education through their protests, strikes, and seizures of buildings towards the fulfillment of their demands.

A growing body of research examines the long black campus movement from various angles. In this article I discuss four recent volumes that critically frame the black campus movement, the institutions, and the people involved in pushing colleges and universities toward a more just space to live and... Specifically, I review the recent work of Stephan Bradley, Wayne Glasker, Ibram X. Kendi, and Joy Ann Williamson to provide a window into this burgeoning research area. Although this discussion is not all-encompassing, I aim to provide a springboard for future research and discussion of how the black campus movement changed higher education, the Black Power Movement, and American society as... Since the 1970s, there have been gains in access to higher education for people who have faced historical discrimination based on race, but disparities in admission persist at the most selective universities and colleges.

College graduation rates mirror the same patterns of inequality that college access rates once exhibited. White and Asian students, high-income students, and students whose parents attended college graduate at rates far higher than those of their peers. Yet approaches to creating opportunity for those previously disenfranchised have been couched in terms of economic need and underpinned by the liberal principle of colorblindness. This is problematic because it negates the explicit racial justice demands of participants in the social movements who agitated for a transformation of colleges and universities into equitable and inclusive institutions. This paper takes a historical approach and examines the relationship between the creation of the Educational Opportunity...

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