The university preaches the notion of diversity, but rarely acts upon it, according to a panel of minority students who spoke Thursday night at the Art and Journalism building.
"We're tired of being silenced on this campus. We're tired of not being heard in a paper that Ball State students read," senior Carla Burke said.
"As an African-American, I've never felt comfortable on this campus," senior Jarrod Dortch said. "The only time I feel comfortable is when I'm with my people."
A diverse group packed into Room 175 of the Art and Journalism Building to hear the discussion, which was spurred by a recent Daily News editorial criticizing the Miss Unity pageant's apparent lack of diversity. The piece, panel members said, seemed to say that non-blacks were overlooked by organizers.
"We have had contestants who were not black," Burke, a pageant coordinator, said. "We started out with 24 women and most of them dropped out voluntarily. The six who were left just happened to be African-American."
Daily News Editor in Chief Jon Seidel, who attended the pageant, said the editorial was as much a commentary on student disinterest.
"The editorial in question was an attempt to point out that this campus lacks integration," he said. "We pointed out that the event lacked diversity in race, but we laid the blame on the student body. There was a good portion of campus that didn't take part, even though the organization put so much into it. The performances were great."
In retrospect he wishes the editorial had made its point clearer, but the message would have remained the same.
"What we want more than anything is for the Ball State community to stand up with one voice - not black, not white, but as a single community " he said. "Our goal is to try and do our part to integrate this campus. "
In addition, the panel was upset over the Daily News' apparent insensitivity in its coverage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The paper prominently featured a quote from a student who said he spent the holiday sleeping in and rejoicing in the fact that he didn't have class.
"Instead of the Daily News going to an event and asking somebody who was doing something important, they went downstairs from their office and talked to someone," said one audience member who stood up during the discussion. "It was lazy."
"That's what a large portion of campus did on that day," Seidel said. "We didn't mean to glorify (those attitudes), but our purpose was to show what people were doing that day."
Nathan Hill, the student who was quoted, apologized for his comments.
"I know I'm one of the reasons that there's been so much strife," he said during the discussion. "That wasn't my intent. I was asked by a reporter what I did that day, but I didn't want to be inconsiderate."
Earlier in the day, a group of mostly black students, dressed in black, staged a silent protest in the Atrium, holding up signs that said "Unity What?...We Have the Answer" and "We Are Tired of Being Silent...Find Out Why."
"We want to address issues, concerns and experiences about a lack of respect on campus," Black Student Association president Michelle Hudson said. "The Daily News is just a part of it."
Panel members claimed the university offered little support and funding for Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities. They placed partial blame on apathy.
"For the most part, I've been thoroughly distressed with our Black Student Association. We've been passive. We should have been mad before," Dortch said.
"The biggest problem is unity. What unity do we have in the community? We'll snub our noses at each other and stab each other in the back, but then the Daily News runs an editorial, and we get mad."
Diversity statements are common on class syllabi, but few professors live up to them, Dortch said. Thus, they miss an opportunity to shape future perceptions.
"I can't teach a 40-year-old man not to be a bigot," he said. "But if you have an 18-year-old, you can open their mind."
Round table discussions, as well as meetings with faculty and student organizations are in the future.
"It's much more than BSA. It involves the entire Ball State community," Hudson said. "It's a collective movement. Right now we're just trying to build a case for the media to give us balanced, better-researched coverage."
"It's not over," Burke said. "We're going to be heard positively."
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