VOLUME 96. ISSUE 13 // JANUARY 22, 201 0
THE GUILFORDIAN
GUILFOUD COLLEGE // WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM // G R E E N S » O R O . N C
FORUN
Diversity Plan
needed to tackle
institutional
oppression of Black
male athletes
Today at Guilford, the Black male athlete is
oppressed, silenced, and isolated in ways that
go against the spirit of our community. Our
community's actions should reflect all of our
core values, especially diversity.
Oppression within the athletic department,
specifically within the football program, is
accepted. From African-Americans being told
to "back their Black asses up" on the field,
to verbally degrading women and dropping
homophobic slurs in the locker room, many
overtly oppressive actions go and remain
unaddressed.
In addition to these explicit forms of
oppression, there are many covert forms
of oppression that take place. This covert
oppression may or may not be deliberate and is
hard to recognize and sufficiently record. Both
forms of oppression need to be addressed.
As a Black male playing for the football
team, I was subjected to racism — many other
Black males on the team were, too. Many Black
males are here at Guilford because the football
program recruited them. A lot of the Black
males on the team were told the same things
while being recruited.
Black recruits are commonly told things
like: "You will have an opportunity to play
early (when talking about playing time)," "Let
me make a call to the Vice-President, Randy
Doss (when talking about the tuition)," and
"You're going to be the next Sleep (former All-
American Black wide receiver)." ,
Although seemingly motivational, these
recruiting techniques come with sets of player-
coach expectations. These expectations are the
beginning of a coercive relationship between
the coaches and the Black male player. This
coercive relationship manifests itself in many
different ways over the course of an athlete's
career.
Many coaches treat Black players as if they
owe something in return for the opportunity
to be great at football — an opportunity they
See "Oppression" on page 10
(Counter-clockwise from
top) Greensboro College
Gospel Choir performs
on Jan. 18 at Greensboro
College after the march.
A statue of MLK stands
in the sun downtown.
Participants in the Jan.
18 teach-in hold up their
newly made sign.
EVENTS COMMEMORATE
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER,
CELEBRATE DIFFERENCES
By Holli McClean
Staff Writer
"Many people believe that MLK Day is a
day on, not off. That needs to become Guil
ford's mantra," said Africana Community Co
ordinator Jada Drew, director of the 2010 Mar
tin Luther King Jr. commemorative events.
Her words set the tone for a week of teach-ins,
marches, candlelight vigils, and thoughtful re
flections.
The events began at 10 a.m. Jan. 18 in Dana
Auditorium. James Shields, director of com
munity learning, kicked off a two-hour teach-
in with a speech on activism and achieving
dreams.
Jubilant cries could be heard from Dana as
the modest but energetic group of attendees
cheered the speaker. Adults then joined small
groups to discuss little-known civil rights ac
tivists, while children were divided into age
groups and given short lessons on the signifi
cance of the day.
Including children in the Monday morning
teach-ins personified the atmosphere of the
See "MLK Day" on page 7
NEWS
New housing lottery
hopes to lessen confusion
By Rebecca Gihian
Staff Writer
Due to unhappy responses from
students on an October survey, the
Campus Life staff has been working
to make changes to the housing
lottery. A major complaint was that
students said they had no information
about the housing process and that no
one was available to help.
Suggestions included allowing
eight students to apply for a suite in
Bryan Hall, instead of only four, and
saving rooms in Mary Hobbs Hall
and English Hall for upperclassmen.
According to Associate Dean for
Campus Life Jen Agor changes have
"If you do not know about the
(housing) lottery this year,
you've been living under a
rock, or really just do not
understand the process."
Jen Agor, associate dean for campus life
been implemented to address these
complaints and to make the housing
lottery run smoothly this year.
"Since they hardly had room in
housing for first-years this semester,
I am glad to see some changes
happening, although they may not all
work," said first-year Sam Huff.
To fix last year's problems, Agor
said that Campus Life is becoming
more accessible before and during the
application process.
"We are going to be upfront and
obnoxious to make sure everyone
knows what is going on," said Agor;
continuing, "there will be posters in
Founders Hall, along with an e-mail
announcement with a link to the
Web page. There will also be a Buzz
announcement and table tents."
For first-years, there will be staff
members, armed with computers, in
the Milner and Binford lobbies for
on-the-spot application submissions.
Students will be able to apply via
these computers in Milner at 7:30
p.m. on March 2 and March 16. For
students in Binford, staff members
will be there on March 4 at 7:30 p.m.
For all other year levels, there will
See "Housing" on page 4
SFORTS
Fislit, Fiskt
Inner Liglit!
The Top 10 Quaker games
coming up this semester
By Patrick Childs
Sports Editor
In the final stretch of the winter sports season
and the spring season right around the comer. The
Guilfordian highlights and ranks the top ten games,
matches and events to look forward to in the up
coming semester.
Tip>off: Wed. Feb. 10, 7 p.m.
Location: Ragan-Brown Field House
Guilford would like to welcome the Mennonite
Royals to the top of the ODAC. The Royals have
climbed the ODAC ladder in the last three years,
finishing no better than fifth. In 2010, the Royals are
unbeaten in conference play, and stand in the way
between the Quakers and first place. The Quakers
(6-1 in ODAC), will look to knock the Royals down
the ODAC ladder.
See "Games" on page 11