AARON SKUBBY, News Editor—The event “White People: Show Up” will discuss Black Lives Matter, performative activism, and the role that white students play in antiracism on Denison’s campus.

The event will feature five panelists: two students, two faculty, and one staff member. The event will take place on Thursday, October 8 from 11:30am – 1:00 pm.

The event is organized by DU Votes as part of their Election Events Series, in collaboration with CLIC, The Provost’s Office, the Denison Libraries and the Lisska Center.

According to DU Votes Co-Coordinator Tait Ferguson ‘23, “Students should expect a brief conversation about the misconceptions and objectives of the Black Lives Matter movement in relation to performative activism and anti-racism of white people.”

Jaleel Pool ‘22, one of the student panelists, explained why it is so important for white students to attend and engage in these conversations: “White students should attend because they perpetuate racism and white privilege, and those are the exact ideologies we are striving to eliminate on campus,” he said. “Furthermore, we need white people to begin practicing anti-racism, a successive set of achievable, timely actions that reduce racism on campus and change their perspectives about BIPOC.”

Community Coordinator and panel moderator Des Woods further emphasized the role of white students in fostering antiracist environments: “Denison will never be able to accomplish the goal of becoming a campus that works to end racism and bigotry of their fellow Denisonians if students who are not POC don’t step up.”

“For many of these students, they simply won’t listen to POC, but they’ll listen to their friends and family members who look like them. So if our white students attend and learn facts and information that they can bring back to their friend groups or organizations that historically lack diversity in the realms of race and ethnicity, these students will be able to challenge attitudes and language that upheld racism, and be able to educate others,” Woods explained.

This event is part of an ongoing effort by some members of Denison’s community to fight racism on Denison’s campus.

Ferguson emphasized that “it is SUPER important to note that this 90-minute panel is in no way the end of the work, or sufficient to grasp and understand the BLM movement and anti-racist work. White people need to show up, and then once its over, continue to educate themselves and do anti-racist work.”

WHERE CAN I ATTEND?

In-person: The panelists will be speaking in-person on the Slayter 3rd Floor. The current capacity for this space is 50 people.

In-person overflow: DU Votes has reserved both the Slayer 4th Floor Auditorium and the Higley Auditorium as overflow spaces that will be streaming the event via Zoom. That way you can still attend with fellow students, staff, and faculty while watching the panel.

Virtually: You can attend this panel from your room, home, or any other space via Zoom (linktr.ee/duvotes). Virtual attendees will be able to ask questions and engage with the channel via chat.

Radio Streaming: The WDUB will be streaming this event via their website (audio only)

After the event: The audio and video from this event will be available via the Get Involved Denison Youtube channel after the event.