Bamboozled!

Oh my God...Pepperdine has done it again!

I am so frustrated with my Christian institution of higher education! As Kanye said Bush doesn't care about black people, Pepperdine doesn't either! They're always talking this diversity BS...blah...blah...blah, but actions speak wayyyyy louder than words. Cases in point:

1. Last year we had an incident where a black student's notebook, bedroom door, and other personal items were vandalized by another student. The culprit wrote every racial slur known to man on this student's property. Some of the stuff I had never heard of. (i.e. N.A.A.C.P. Now Apes Are Considered People) The issue was brought to Pepperdine's attention and they assured us black students the problem would be handled appropiately. What happened?... The student whose property was defaced is no longer at Pepperdine, while the culprit is running around happy-go-lucky after Daddy Warbuck$ handled the situation. But this is a Christian school???

2. Currently, Pepperdine does not have any of the Historically African-American Greek Letter Organizations on campus. Never has. I know it's hard to believe, seeing that it IS 2009 and Pepperdine IS in liberal California....but it is true. Pepperdine is one of the ONLY universities in Southern California without at least ONE of these organizations. Frustrated with this, a few friends and myself strove to change this. It was like pulling teeth to get the school to agree to the idea of having these organizations on campus. After the word got out that this was a work in progress, the white Greeks cried out in dissent. "These organizations will segregate Pepp's Greek life...blah...blah." The reality of the situation is Pepperdine's Greek Life is ALREADY SEGREGATED!!! (and not just racially segregated) They were just afraid of the black organizations taking their "tokens." Our student body needs to wake up!!!

The hard work and energy put into that project seems in vain now. After so many complaints and "concerns," many of our interested candidates backed out in fear of being ostracized from the Pepperdine community. Too many of our black students are 1. struggling with an identity crisis and 2. apathetic when it comes to racial inequalities on campus, leaving the weight to be carried by the Black Student Association, of which Kendria and myself are the Co-Presidents.

3. The College Republicans (a student group) definitely receives preferential treatment by the University! Other student clubs and organizations have to fight to receive funding for events and programs. The CR received with ease, on numerous occasions, 100s of $$ to buy expensive plaques and other miscellaneous items for their celebrity/political guest speakers. It gets better…

The icing on the cake??? The Director of Intercultural Affairs was attacked on conservative bloggers site after refusing to allow the College Republicans to post an anti-Obama poster (in an unauthorized location) that read “Obama ‘08: Socialism.” The president of the CR went to the media whining about the Pepperdine’s censorship of the poster. The main blog, written by Mike S. Adams, has received over 150 comments regarding the “once-great (and once-conservative) Pepperdine University.” Read the school’s newspaper article about the blog here. Read the blog here.

Needless to say, the CR got away with this injustice. I wonder how Pepperdine would have responded if BSA had gone to the NAACP, CNN, or any other media outlet when that student’s property was vandalized. I’m sure they would have gotten rid of us too…

4. I’m sure my frustration is evident by this point. I’m tired of typing. Let’s sum up everything else. November 4th…Pepperdine was DEAD silent after the elections. You could hear a gnat bump his head on the carpet…it was THAT quiet. No parades. No rejoicing. No pandemonium. Nothing. The following day at our weekly mandatory Chapel service, NOTHING was mentioned of our new President-elect. Nothing.

That was definitely one night I wanted to be anywhere else BUT Pepperdine. A hand-full of us were celebrating…alone.

The mood on campus for the next week was weird. The school’s true colors were surfacing. I’ve never felt more “black” in my life. Everyone helped make it more obvious. Students and professors alike had their little racist-ass comments to make about President Obama. Like FB users across the nation, they also expressed their frustrations in their FB statuses. It was disheartening because I lost so much respect for my friends, professors, and the SCHOOL as a whole that week. But of course they used his policies as the scapegoat for their disapproval.

The University apologized for their flub and promised to acknowledge the Inauguration in January.

5. Pepperdine smoothed the situation over by having an inspirational MLK/ Inauguration Celebration. The celebration was actually very nice and BSA/ Ken and I had an essential role in the planning and execution of the event. It was a great way to kick off the semester and the student body responded positively. We were left feeling good about the semester, our new President, Pepperdine, and Black History Month.

But of course, the next day we were knocked off of our wave of hope when we saw the Gonzaga/ Pepperdine t-shirts. The t-shirts said “Yes We Can” [beat Gonzaga] with a picture a male that resembled President Obama…but it wasn’t him. It was Pepperdine’s Bball head coach. WTF? It’s known that Pepperdine is a pretty conservative school and that t-shirt was a mockery of our new President.

6. Today we received the February Student Life Calendar that the school issues to the entire student body. I just KNEW that the calendar would display Black History Month graphics, MLK, President Obama, ya know…the basics. NO ma’am. The calendar had hearts and more hearts allll over the cover. Are you serious Pepperdine? Is ONE day more important than the ENTIRE month?? Apparently it is. I do not feel at home here. Why did I even come to this school?? The students are wack and so is Administration. Kendria is writing a letter to the President of the school…I’m doing the same, but I had to come vent first.

I’ve had enough of this ish...