In 1973 an email, addressed to All Department Chairmen and Faculty, was sent from the Black Student Union . In the document the BSU members detail their request to be actively involved in the recruitment of Black Faculty.
Analysis
In this document, it is evident that the BSU wanted to have a more active role in the recruitment of minority faculty and its vital role, as stated in the document, is highlighted by the appointment of Clarence Sterne, Jr. in 1972 who explicitly stated that the students played a huge role in his acceptance of the position.
Here is yet another instance of the lack student union taking an active role in creating a sense of place for blackness on the CC campus because, as reflected by Pyne and Suddler in their research, as an act of “giving a sense of place and belonging and connectivity with other black people”(cite) and echoed in the words of the BSU in this memorandum that these are people who would “have some experience and empathy with minority students’ problems” [1].
Author’s note on the usage of the word “minority”
The word minority and black are not meant to be used interchangeably because there are times when the words minority and black are used next to each other which leads me to conclude that it was used to also encompass other students groups that were on campus that were not necessarily black but were in the minority.
[1] Memorandum from Black Student Union to All Department Chairmen and Faculty, October 23,1973. Information file “Students – Students – African-American,” Colorado College Special Collections
