Black students at Southern Methodist University say they are tired of feeling targeted by campus police, of coded comments from faculty and of outright racist acts such as fliers entitled, "Why white women shouldn't date black men."
They point to 1969, when African-American students occupied the president’s office demanding that SMU do more to recruit and retain black students and faculty.
They point to 2015, when a new generation of students asked for the same after insensitive party fliers and racist comments posted anonymously on social media.
And now in 2020, they point to anger and frustrations across the country over the treatment of blacks, especially police brutality. The subtle racial tension at SMU -- students say they always feel it but are not always able to talk about it -- is a reflection of the struggles across the country and how slow progress has been for many.
Now many students say they are tired of waiting for change. Earlier this month, black students at SMU once again presented a list of demands to the university, with goals that echo those that came before. Among the asks this year are for the university to set aside $7 million to help black students attend SMU, for policies to hold those who commit racially insensitive acts accountable and for black mental health professionals to be made available to students.
“We’re still feeling uncomfortable in nearly every single class and like an outsider in our own school because there’s been no progress,” said junior Abena Marfo, who is president of the African Student Association. “I’m literally the only black person in my classes and get all these microaggressions -- sly comments on my hair or the way I dress.”
Students and alumni restarted the #BlackatSMU hashtag earlier this month amid nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Students said the struggles African-American students continue to face on campus highlight just how frustrating it is to continue fighting the same battles for better treatment and representation year after year.
On social media, they described how they make sure to drive around or walk across campus with prominent SMU branding on them. Even then, many say they’ve been stopped by police.
They told stories of classmates insinuating they were only at SMU because of affirmative action or athletic prowess. Of students from a white sorority explaining the reasons it didn’t want black women to join, including because they were “aesthetically unpleasing.” Of a black ballerina getting backlash for dyeing her pink tights and shoes to better reflect her skin color.
“I remember when my teammates and I got called ‘porch monkeys’ on yak because we were chilling on the stairs in between class,” one tweet read, referring to the discontinued Yik Yak social media app.
University President R. Gerald Turner said it was painful to read through the posts because students described an SMU that is not the school he has strived to shape since he took over the campus in 1995.
“It’s obviously not the kind of experience we want them to have,” he said. “Moving that needle anywhere is difficult -- in corporate America, in cities and in states. ...And because of the nature of a university, perhaps it’s more intensely felt here and we have a greater commitment to try and do something about it.”
After meeting with students earlier this month, Turner said he is working on an action plan with timelines.
But in the five years since, little has changed as far as representation across campus. Blacks make up only 6% of students and 4% of instructional faculty, nearly mirroring what it was then.
Turner contends that SMU has worked to improve the campus culture in that time, even though enrollment and faculty demographics don’t reflect much growth.
After #BlackatSMU struggles were first highlighted by The News in 2015, university administrators met with students every two weeks for an academic year and then monthly for the following two years.
SMU officials talked with universities, businesses and even unions across the country, searching for answers about how to make the campus not only more welcoming but more culturally aware.
That led to initiatives like hiring a senior advisor to the provost whose sole focus was improving cultural intelligence across campus and a cultural intelligence initiative called CIQ@SMU.
The university requires all new students and incoming faculty to participate in CIQ training, which includes information on bias and microaggressions. SMU now has an online tool to report bias incidents as part of the effort to set cultural standards.
“You may not be able to change people’s attitudes, but you sure can change their behavior,” Turner said. “What we’re making clear is what the approved behavior is and take action if that doesn’t show up in our students or faculty and staff.”
Turner points to a recent photo in The News showing SMU coaches and football players passing out water bottles at a Black Lives Matter rally. He says it is just one example of how CIQ has helped more university staff and students be aware of social issues.
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But Emem Inyang, 22, who graduated in May, said she restarted the hashtag earlier this month because Turner’s initial letter addressing Floyd’s death was yet another example of how the university continues to fail students because it decried racism in general but did not address specific concerns.
“It didn’t acknowledge the needs that black students might face, especially in this environment,” she said. “It didn’t even use the word ‘black.’ That was a very SMU thing to do.”
Inyang was a high school senior in Pennsylvania when she read about SMU’s struggles in The News.
She had attended a summer science camp at the university after middle school and fell in love with the school. The story didn’t discourage her from choosing SMU, but instead solidified it as her top choice, she said.
She said that if she was going to go to a PWI -- a predominately white institution -- she wanted it to be one that was aware of its challenges and ready to do the work to address them.
But while attending SMU, Inyang felt the university wasn’t serious about change. She worked with various groups and in the admissions office, where she saw little tangible results in increasing black students and staff. When concerns were brought up -- such as racist fliers -- she felt SMU officials tried to quickly dismiss them as one-time incidents.
And CIQ seemed to deflect from facing the tough issues facing black students specifically by instead focusing on more palatable ideas like diversity in general, she said.
Marcus McNeil, a former football player who ended up transferring to another Texas school after struggling on campus, shared that frustration after serving on the CIQ advisory board.
McNeil grew up in a family of activists and in 2016, after Philando Castile was killed by police during a routine stop in Minnesota, he joined thousands in a Black Lives Matter protest on July 7 in downtown Dallas.
A gunman started firing at police officers as protesters were heading home. At the time, McNeil didn’t know the man was targeting police and the former offensive guard scrambled to find shelter in a hotel. In the chaos, he lost his keys and wallet and ended up having to find a way out with friends even though he didn’t yet know if it was safe to move around downtown.
That night -- when five law enforcement officers were killed -- continues to haunt him. But he said his coaches at the time seemed indifferent to his experience. McNeil had already felt like white athletes were given preferential treatment and that he was marked as a problem player for speaking up on inequities he saw on campus.
“I never heard, ‘How are you? Are you OK?’” he said. “What I did hear was, ‘You need to focus on football. Do you want to be a football player or an activist?’”
McNeil said he tried to make life better for other students on campus, such as by helping to organize a Mr. and Ms. Black SMU homecoming court. But the frequent microaggressions he faced just wore him down.
“Mentally, it got to the point that if I had to do another two years of this, I just don’t know where my brain would be,” he said. “I can’t keep fighting this fight.”
He transferred to Texas State University, where he said the campus climate is much more inclusive to all students.
Chad Morris, SMU’s head coach at the time and now offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn University, issued a statement saying that in his 28 years of coaching, he’s encouraged a culture of “inclusion, diversity and brotherhood.”
“It was no different while I was the head coach at SMU,” he said. “It’s disappointing to me to learn that one of my former players feels that way about his experience.”
Meanwhile, a new group of black students is picking up the fight for change at SMU. Two students have raised more than $15,000 to buy shirts and fund various campus initiatives in the fall to promote awareness for Black Lives Matter.
This month, Turner held a series of video calls with black students and faculty to discuss concerns. He then vowed to develop better accountability and expanded implicit bias training. He said he would make current funds available for scholarships for black students in the short term but would make growing scholarship endowment a top priority.
From the archives: The News’ 2015 #BlackatSMU deep dive into the challenges students have faced
Turner also noted that talks with campus police were ongoing to address student concerns about profiling.
As the nation collectively focuses on inequities across all systems, Turner said that momentum has built up to really make lasting changes at SMU and across the nation.
“You have almost a consensus in the country that there needs to be improvements and that the opportunities to work significantly toward racial equality and social justice are now available,” he said.
Administrators will once again meet black students regularly to update them on progress. But Turner admits making dramatic changes to the campus makeup will be a challenge because SMU is competing with other elite schools across the country for top students and fewer high school graduates are choosing college.
Research repeatedly shows that black high school students have fewer opportunities to take courses that prepare them for college because of limited class offerings or because they aren’t tapped for advanced programs at the same rate as peers.
That eventually leads to a smaller pool of graduate students to recruit from for faculty positions.
But the resurfacing of #BlackatSMU has already given some potential students pause. A handful of black students planning to attend SMU in the fall semester posted on social media that they were now reconsidering their enrollment.
A few students on the call with Turner said they felt like the president was encouraging them to reach out to those students who posted their concerns about attending SMU.
SMU admissions officials said at this point, no one has asked for a deposit back or said they don’t plan to attend SMU because of #BlackatSMU concerns.
Turner issued a statement to The New stating that, “If our students respond to concerns expressed on Twitter, I would want them to acknowledge what they and others have experienced here – good and bad -- but also to let incoming students know that we have programs in place to work on these issues and invite them to come work with us.”
That request stung Kennedy Coleman, a junior who was on the video call with Turner and who is programming chair for the Association of Black Students. Coleman has responded to questions from potential students who have reached out to her individually, but she doesn’t want to do the work recruitment work she feels SMU should be doing.
“I have told students that yes, I would definitely still come here because it does have its benefits and resources,” she said. “If you know you’re going to go to a PWI, I wouldn’t let someone else’s ignorance stand in your way. Don’t let it define your whole experience and -- Wait. Pause. Because sometimes, it be hurting. I’m not going to lie -- But you can’t let it stop you from finding your success.”
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