SUNY Cortland's Black Student Union to host town hall meeting

The following is a republished press release…to submit a community announcement, email Peter Blanchard at [email protected].

[do_widget id= text-6 ]

In light of recent protests and unrest on college campuses across the country, SUNY Cortland’s Black Student Union (BSU) will host a town hall meeting to discuss issues related to race, bias and discrimination on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

The event, which is open to the public, takes place at 5 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium. All campus community members — students, faculty and staff members — are encouraged to attend. The goal is to gather input from all sides to develop a more inclusive and welcoming campus community.

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 10.53.31 AM

Members of SUNY Cortland's Black Student Union lead a march on campus last month

“There’s a lot of tension building across the country due to discrimination,” said Michael Guity, a junior mathematics major and the president of the College’s BSU. “With this meeting, we want to acknowledge that it’s an issue that affects us here and those on other campuses. We also want to brainstorm ideas for ways to change it in the future.”

Guity will moderate a panel discussion that includes students, faculty and staff members from the College. Audience members will be able to participate in a question and answer session that follows the panel talk.

Earlier this semester, College President Erik J. Bitterbaum kicked off a three-part President’s Conversation Series on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with a discussion titled “Let’s Talk About Race.” President Bitterbaum is scheduled to attend Tuesday’s town hall meeting.

Organizers plan to use the hashtag #BSUCortlandTownHall during the event. For more information, contact the College’s Multicultural Life and Diversity Office at 607-753-2336.

[do_widget id= text-7 ]