After an historic event, memorable speech and months of waiting, Minnesota State University did what universities do in times of momentous occasion: They talked about it.
A panel discussion following the inauguration of Barack Obama allowed the speakers and the 150 or so who attended to let their brains simmer on the kinds of questions this country has grappled with for decades.
How will Obama’s presidency affect relations among the tossed-salad-like collection of races that call themselves “Americans”?
“I did not believe I’d see such equality take place in my lifetime,” Michael Fagin, dean of Institutional Diversity, said prior to the panel discussion. “Having Barack Obama in the White House is a symbol of our equality.”
The panelists were student Katie Palacio, Diversity Commission member Linda Duckett, professor Han Huy Phan, Black Students Union President Sharmarke Hurreh and graduate student Deqa Muhidin.
When asked about the impact of an Obama presidency on America, Palacio said, “If Obama has done anything, he’s made people care.”
Said Phan, “ We have hope, we should be proud, and we should celebrate.”
On the question of what impact an Obama presidency will have on the MSU campus, Hurreh said, “Hopefully it will motivate minorities to reach higher goals ... More kids will be motivated to pursue college.”
When asked how the majority group on campus — whites — can be educated about issues minorities deal with, most agreed it would help if more whites attended cultural events such as the Pan-African Conference, Somali Night or other such events.
And when asked to apply Black Panther Bobby Seal’s famous quote to modern times — “Everything has changed, and nothing has changed” — Palacio told a story she said changed the way she thought about race.
During the campaign, when a cartoon was published showing Obama in Muslim dress, she was horrified. Then she saw Obama’s reaction to it.
“He said, ‘What’s wrong with being a Muslim? I don’t see why it’s funny,’” she said. “And that’s what I should have said ... That changed a lot for me.”
Provost Scott Olson, who spoke before the panel discussion, reminded people that today was a day they’d remember forever.
“You’re living in a story,” Olson said, “a story so huge that you’re going to tell your descendants, ‘I remember that day.’”
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