By Philip Bailey
Running back and forth between the Red Barn and Chao Auditorium, I almost missed the demonstration at the SGA State of the Student Body address that was led by SNCC Chief of Staff Mikal Forbush.
Walking to the stage near the conclusion of SGA President Darrell Messer’s speech and later joined by six other students, Forbush called for a stronger mobilization effort by SGA regarding the burdensome cost of increasing tuition and other various fees to U of L students. At the conclusion Forbush then peacefully led thirty-plus students out of the Chao Auditorium in a show of solidarity.
Currently that single act has been the cause of misunderstanding, accomplishment and an avalanche on one student in particular.
First it must be made clear that Forbush & Co. did nothing legally or constitutionally wrong by interrupting Messer’s speech. In many ways their actions were encouraged by Messer a week before at the Nov. 9 meeting of the Association of Black Students (ABS). Caught in a crossfire of pinpointed questions regarding the increasing economic burden on students, Messer told ABS members he wanted more student involvement, more voices and full mobilization to firmly oppose tuition increases and other outrageous fees.
He may not have wanted his call for activism to blossom at the State of the Body address, but it’s no dispute that he asked for something akin to it. Why then was that demonstration implicitly encouraged by the SGA president met with a call to the Department of Public Safety?
That was the question Jason Walker and I asked Rudy Spencer not too long after the address was over. According to Forbush, Spencer was the first to jump from his seat and was already calling DPS before Forbush & Co. reached the front of the Chao Auditorium. Spencer seemed proud and said, “They needed to be removed [because they were] disruptive and disrespectful.”
Sure enough the demonstration surprised attendees; however, demonstrators broke no laws and were peaceful throughout. Six students standing and thirty others walking out of a meeting should not warrant a call to campus police. Many conclusions were drawn from Spencer’s call, from a gross racial self-hatred to a simple overreaction.
I can only believe that like others he has become drunk with his tiny officialdom that he believed Forbush & Co. were worthy of removal or arrest for their audacity to speak out of turn. Those who agree with Spencer’s attempt to squash dissent must logically support those students being held in police custody. Spencer’s overreaction did not come without consequence; he was deservedly satirized for his Hooveresque ploy in the online community of Facebook.com.
With Spencer dispatched, the movement to address the larger and more substantive issue at hand has thankfully moved forward. Leaders of the Society of Porter Scholars, SNCC, ABS and SGA distributed a joint letter of reconciliation last week saying they “have identified challenges and possible remedies that can make a difference for all students at the University of Louisville and have pledged to commit themselves to working together on the issues.”
Last week students from those various organizations met with U of L Provost Shirley Willinghanz to align the movement with administrative efforts if possible. The same energies put into lampooning one bamboozled student have switched to groups dedicated to organizing and mobilizing students for tuition.
From the looks of it, Forbush & Co.’s demonstration is fully vindicated. Now the question remains, what can we accomplish?
Phillip Bailey is a senior majoring in Pan-African studies. E-mail him at opinion@louisvillecardinal.com.
