About 40 people attended Tuesday's Campus Conversation, which focused on #BlackLivesMatter.
When Jason Timpson was in kindergarten, he only had one other African-American student in his class.
At the age of 9, he was called the N-word.
Timpson told that story to about 40 Ohio University and Athens residents during the first Campus Conversation of 2016, which focused on the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The event took place Tuesday afternoon in Baker Ballroom.
Before finals week last semester, the OU Black Student Union painted the graffiti wall near Bentley Hall with a Black Lives Matter message and a raised fist in response to an act of vandalism of a bulletin board in Sargent Hall that occurred Fall Semester. The message on the wall was altered five days after it had been painted.
The original mural was spray painted over with a message saying “Everyone goes through their own shit” and “#alllivesmatter.”
Tuesday’s event started out with Assistant Dean of Students Jamie Patton introducing the four panelists who spoke about their experiences with race.
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“Defacing of the wall proves that OU isn't an isolated bubble where wonderful magical things happen,” Timpson, a panelist at the event, said.
Due to his humor, Tyrin Rome, a junior studying music production, was compared to Will Smith by his classmates at his predominantly white, all-male high school.
“You're a black person that I like, here’s another black person I like,” Rome, a panelist, said.
Rome, a Toledo native, said he thinks Campus Conversations are important to OU.
“There was always this kind of readiness from the teachers at school to send the black students to detention,” Rome said.
When Sasha Estrella-Jones, a junior studying anthropology, transferred to OU, people asked her what color her skin was because she's bi-racial.
“It was the first time I realized they were asking what I was because they were trying to figure out … what box to put me in,” Estrella-Jones, a Brooklyn native and panelist, said.
Aretina Hamilton, a visiting professor in African American studies, said she learned there are not a lot of minorities in higher education.
“First day of graduate orientation … (I was) looking around and there's four black bodies,” Hamilton said. “I was like wow. This is not 1960, but it felt like it.”
OU President Roderick McDavis was present at the event and has been at events focused on race throughout the academic year.
“I think it’s important to have the conversation about Black Lives Matter and other serious issues that are related to helping us become a welcoming community on campus,” McDavis said.
Ariana Brown, a sophomore studying political science, said events like Tuesday’s Campus Conversation are helpful.
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“You look around and don’t see a lot of people, and there should be more people here, and most likely the people who are here are receptive because if you’re not, you’re not gonna come to an event called Black Lives Matter,” Brown said.
The next Campus Conversation is Jan. 26 and will focus on Selma and racial inequalities, as the Athena Cinema will screen the movie Thursday at 7 p.m. for free.
— Madeleine Peck contributed to this report.
@megankhenry
