Students across campus have been experiencing racism, discrimination, and various forms of hate in much more noticeable amounts from their fellow classmates this school year. Alliance clubs across Bowie have realized this is an issue, and are working together to change the direction of this increased hate.
Bowie Unity is a student-run project designed to foster a sense of community in areas where some groups have felt a disconnect among their peers. Key groups involved with the project are the Black Student Alliance (BSA), Asian American Allies, and the Gender and Sexuality Acceptance (GSA) clubs.
“The goal is to bring people together and have a stronger sense of community at Bowie,” senior BSA member Derrick Osobase said. “The biggest thing is that some people have been rude to certain groups of people, so we want to bring all these groups together.”
BSA sponsor Justine Lashley spotted one of these displays of discrimination in her class room. Inappropriate language was written on tables in her room, and she brought this to the attention of administration. Lashley introduced an idea to combat this hate to academic director Kaylin Brett and lead counselor Nicole Hepburn, who remained in touch with Lashley regarding the support of a potential project.
“I think a lot of adults have seen the trajectory of how things are going and the disrespect that is occurring on campus,” Lashley said. “Whether it’s students using slurs or calling someone out for their sexual orientation, or anything like that, we want to combat it.”
Lashley called attention to these events with the BSA club, and suggested the students try to fight against this. The members agreed with the noticeable increase of discrimination on campus, and decided to work together with other clubs to counter the hate.
“We’re trying to get people together to teach others that those things hurt,” Osobase said. “We really want people to understand that.”
After reaching out to other groups, the realization that these discriminatory acts have been noticed by many students across campus became apparent. Senior Ayah Hakim is a representative for Student Leadership for the project.
“I’ve noticed since we have been on our phones less this year people are being rude face to face since they can no longer conceal it behind a screen,” Hakim said. “There’s definitely been a shift in the community, the Bowie culture feels more intense now in a negative way.”
BSA is organizing a video to be shown during Character Strong to convey the message of the project. Using a ‘street interview’ style, BSA members will interview students about their stance and opinions regarding the increased discrimination.
“Our goal for the videos is to have students explaining what unity means to them,” Osobase said. “We hope the interviews will be done in a kind of fun and more casual way to keep the responses genuine.”
The various groups are working together with the Dispatch Media team to produce an additional video that will be shown during Character Strong. This video will include skits and panels with members of these groups calling attention to the mistreatment and prejudice towards others that has been present on campus, and how to handle these situations.
“My hope is that students will take the video seriously and actually watch it when it is shown during Character Strong,” Lashley said. “I’m hoping for a little bit of change in the culture at Bowie.”
