Beloit’s journey toward becoming better— toward being an inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist institution— didn’t begin with this initiative, or this website.
Beloit’s first Black students enrolled in the late nineteenth century; those early pioneers are the beginning of a story that has continued through the civil rights era to the events of 2020, and will continue via this roadmap long into the future.
No webpage could do service to the full history of race relations and anti-racism at Beloit. Our work to become better is a story that includes every generation of Beloit students. 以下是这段历史中对我们当前工作很重要的几个值得注意的时刻.
Our first Black students embodied all the qualities that Beloit and its students are known for today. They were resilient, accomplished, hardworking, and determined. Each has left his or her unique mark on the College.
Charles Winter Wood
Class of 1895
Charles Wood entered Beloit College Academy in 1887 and joined the college in 1891. Although he played left end on Beloit’s popular football team, he became best known for his public speaking and acting; after graduating in 1895 he attended divinity school at Chicago Theological Seminary, and went on to teach at Tuskegee University, among other colleges and universities. “Don’t be surprised at any time,” he wrote in 1931, “to see me on Beloit Campus, living once again over the dear days of Charlie Wood in the making at Beloit College.”
Daniel Webster Brown escaped a racist attack as a university student in the South, and quickly migrated north, in his words, “by a sort of underground railway.” He arrived at Beloit in 1887, using an assumed name for his protection. In 1889, Brown and other pioneering students founded the college’s first football team; in their first intercollegiate game, the new Beloit footballers beat Madison 4-0.
There isn’t much we know about Brown’s life path after leaving Beloit. 但他在一家未具名报纸上的话表明，这个故事远比我们所知道的要复杂得多:“这是一个有趣的故事, but I haven’t told it all. I am afraid to tell the most interesting part. A colored man never knows what he is going to get in the South. I have been back to the old country, and in and about and all through the places where the mob once hunted for me with guns and knives, and it is all forgotten now. But a colored man is never safe and I cannot tell the whole story, even up here in the North.”
Grace Ousley, Laurence’s sister, (pictured below) became the first African-American to graduate from Beloit High School in 1900. Laurence helped her through four years at Beloit College, where in 1904 she became its first African-American woman graduate, just nine years after the college embraced coeducation.
The daughter of a Mississippi laborer whose family emigrated to Wisconsin to find factory work, Velma Bell was one of Beloit’s most accomplished and brilliant scholars.
On June 16, 1930, after only three years of study, Bell graduated from Beloit College magna cum laude.
Like countless citizens throughout the United States, many Beloit students were active participants in the struggle for civil rights and equality in the 1960s.
In 1961, 伯洛伊特学院62岁的学生吉姆·茨维格(Jim Zwerg)曾作为交换生在纳什维尔的菲斯克大学(Fisk University)学习，并参与了电影院抗议活动. 当年5月，茨威格因为参加了著名的“穿越南方腹地的自由之旅”(Freedom Rides through the Deep South)，一群愤怒的白人暴民差点将他打死，他因此登上了全国的头条新闻.
The following year, the college’s chapter of the Delta Gamma sorority pledged African-American student Patricia Hamilton, resulting in suspension by the national organization. Beloit’s chapter stayed true to their ideals and went local, and Theta Pi Gamma is still going strong today.
Beloit residents, including students and alumni of the College, traveled cross country by car, bus, and airplane in order to participate in the history-making March on Washington in 1963.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection
On April 10, 1968, six days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Beloit College Library Director, H. Vail Deale, wrote to President Miller Upton offering to the college his vast personal collection of books, pamphlets, and memorabilia dealing with non-violence, conscientious objection, and world peace.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. 《菠菜白菜吧》是莫尔斯图书馆的“特别收藏”之一，收藏于伯洛伊特学院档案馆. 该系列包括由圣雄甘地和马丁·路德·金等和平主义者和民权领袖撰写的罕见的开创性作品, Jr. as well as countless books on non-violence and the peace movement in the United States. Among its many treasures are items concerning the March on Washington.
Beloit’s Black students stand up for equal opportunities
In 1969, 35名黑人学生列出了一系列要求，他们认为这些要求将使伯洛伊特学院更具包容性，并肯定他们的种族. The Black Demands, as they were called, were announced on the front page of the Beloit student newspaper:
The demands themselves were included in the paper and printed for campus distribution:
The full text of the 1969 Demands:
1. Full credit course offerings in the African & Afro-American History, Art, Music, Philosophy, Economics, Government, Literature and Languages taught by Black professors.
2. Mandatory courses on the concept of Blackness for student body, faculty, and administration.
3. Admissions program aimed at increasing the percentage of Black students to 10% of the student body.
4. Hiring program aimed at increasing percentage of faculty members to 10% Black.
5. Sections of dorms reserved for Black students.
6. Inclusion of relevant contributions by Black experts in each field of our current curriculum.
7. A Black financial aid consultant.
8. Establishment of a Black cultural center and meeting place.
9. Institution of the High Potential Education Program as approved by the Beloit College faculty.
On June 17, 2020, Black Students United (BSU) sent a letter to the college with contemporaneous demands, based on those from 1969, that are listed below.
Since that time, 伯洛伊特反种族主义联络小组一直在与我们社区的成员合作，围绕BSU的要求组织我们的反种族主义努力, consistent with Beloit’s legal obligations.
我们认为Beloit正在进行的反种族主义工作对我们的教育使命和建立一个更强大的校园社区至关重要.
Beloit College Administrators, this document is highlighting what Black students and Alumni need from this campus. Please read closely and respond swiftly.
Opening Remarks:
Black Students United (BSU) and our Black alumni are coming together to reiterate the original Black Demands from 1969, with a few additions. These demands were put together by Black students on campus of what they required from Beloit. 令人失望的是，坦率地说，令人尴尬的是，一个渴望反种族主义的机构未能在2020年前满足这些要求. In this document, 我们公开要求伯洛伊特学院重新审视我们的要求，并充分透明地展示他们计划如何确保这些问题得到解决.
伯洛伊特学院的黑人不得不承受校外的国家暴力以及校园内持续不断的种族主义心理暴力. This psychological violence manifests in many ways. First, Black students are framed as subjects of learning, rather than students who deserve equitable learning environments. Second, 仇恨犯罪和仇恨行为每年都在发生，学院缺乏长期的解决方案来破坏和最终结束暴力. The recurrences are frequent because of Beloit’s inability to reprimand individuals and legitimize our pain. Finally, 有一种为了“专业”而容忍反黑人的文化需要解决. Examples include, publicly condoning coded and racist statements/ideologies of students, faculty, alumni, and coaches, in fear of social and financial retaliation. The culmination of these factors is compounded by the fact that Beloit is a residential campus. 黑人学生应该搬到一个以白人学生为主的小型住宿校园，并把它当作我们的家. 十大菠菜台子的住宿性质和规模迫使学院承担更多的责任来保护黑人学生，这样我们才能在家里感到安全.
Racism didn’t begin three weeks ago, and this cultural movement is entirely led by black youth. There needs to be a reconciliation, so that we may move forward to being an anti-racist community, by recognizing the complicity of all individuals at Beloit up until this point. Not being racist isn’t something that can be done passively. In order to actually not be racist, we need to be actively fighting against racism. 51 years later Beloit College has still not fulfilled these demands, continuously proving to their Black students, faculty, staff, and the world that Beloit College is complacent to the anti-black racism that occurs on our campus. Until the following demands are met, Beloit College cannot claim to be an aspiring “anti-racist institution”.
We would like to maintain these demands because they still have not been met, but we will be making additions. To show the adjustments, the demands will be listed in chronological order, with the adjustments below.
1. Full credit course offerings in History, Critical Identity Studies, Art, Music, Philosophy, Economics, Political Science, English taught by Black professors.
a. The College does not have a Black professor in the majority of these departments, and of the ones that do, there is only one professor.
2. Mandatory courses on the concept of Blackness for student body, faculty, and administration.
a. Require Sex, Race, and Power as a required course for graduation for ALL students. It is imperative that this course is taught by a Black body, preferably a Black woman.
b. Required race training for faculty, staff, all athletes and coaches, campus club leaders and their executives, Greek Life, Residential Life (Director, Residential Life Coordinators (RLCs), Residents Assistants), Financial Aid, SEAL, Food Services, and all other offices that come into contact with students.
c. In the case of student athletes, 如果学生被发现从事种族主义行为和/或违反当前仇恨和偏见协议大纲的行为, the following actions should be taken: student is suspended for the remainder of the season, they must attend classes on Race in America and the History of Race in Beloit, the classes will be graded with papers and exams, until all steps are completed the student will be unable to practice or play for the College.
3. Admissions program aimed at increasing the percentage of Black students to 10% of the student body.
a. The current percentage of Black students is only ~5%.
b. We also understand how integral students are to admissions. For questions about how to increase this percentage, please reach out to BSU members.
4. Hiring programs aimed at increasing the percentage of faculty members to 10% Black
5. Sections of dorms reserved for Black students.
a. ResLife needs to be more diligent when pairing first years with roommates, for the safety of our Black students. Here is an example of what could occur when these considerations are not made.
b. In addition to roommates, Black RAs need to be placed in safe areas that will not negatively affect their mental health. Preferably with other Black RAs and students.
6. Inclusion of relevant contributions by Black experts in each field of our current curriculum.
7. A Black financial aid consultant.
a. In addition to the consultant, grants and scholarships need to be put in place specifically for Black students.
8. Establishment of a Black cultural center and meeting place.
a. Although Black students have the BSU house, the location is secluded and is inaccessible. Language students have WAC, art/dance students have Hendricks, Smith and art/dance house, international students have International House, etc. Black students need a space where we can study, hangout, and not feel like we are intruders on our own campus. Options include: the Powerhouse or Pearsons.
9. Institution of the High Potential Education Program as approved by the Beloit College Faculty.
11. Revision of Upper and Under Class Common Courses to include sections focused on Blackness.
12. End of harassment of Black students by maintenance men, receptionists, security guards and other college personnel.
a. Security guards and their receptionists are constantly rude to Black individuals and never held accountable. Reach out for detailed examples and ways to address this problem.
Additional Demands:
In addition to those specific updates, 我们想提出一些新的要求，这些要求反映了当前的政治气候，并将极大地提高伯洛伊特大学黑人学生的生活质量.
1. Secure a permanent Black counselor in the Health and Wellness Center, give Black students priority when scheduling appointments with said counselor, and alert students when the counselor arrives.
a. Black students struggle with the stigmas around mental health, as well as connecting with white counselors. Reach out for more detailed examples.
b. 黑人学生应该获得资源，以便能够在找到十大菠菜台子以外的永久黑人顾问所需的时间内寻求咨询. There are Black counselor networks available to those who are in need, 鉴于目前COVID-19大流行的全球形势，它实际上是一种越来越可用的资源.
2. 更新网站，使仇恨法案政策反映学生包容性校园(SIC)在2017年制定的修订. In doing so, be sure to include racial slurs as hate acts instead of bias incidents.
a. Being called the N-word is a hate act not bias incident and is an act of violence within itself. 偏见事件“不涉及暴力或其他违反大学政策的行为”，这表明人们对种族歧视作为心理暴力行为的理解存在差距.
3. 关于洛根博物馆的文物，完全符合美国原住民坟墓和遣返法案(NAGPRA).
Closing Remarks:
BSU needs to see changes by Fall 2020. We understand that some things will take longer to implement, such as: hiring new faculty and staff members, raising the percentage of Black students, and shifting our campus culture. However, it should not take another 50 years. 对于2020年秋季，预计将满足以下要求:对上述各方实施强制性比赛培训, graduation requirements are updated to include Sex, Race, and Power, ResLife must DEEPLY consider the procedure for placing Black students, the Hate Act Policy MUST be updated, and we NEED a space for Black students outside of our house to congregate. As stated in the document, if anyone has any questions or concerns about any of the demands do not hesitate to contact BSU at beloitbsu@gmail.com or Aryssa Harris at harrisad@zishu86.com. It is never too late to educate yourself, the issue occurs when you do nothing, and refuse to acknowledge the shortcomings of your past.
