Although Lisa Trahan, Dean of the Office of the First Year Experience, says there is currently a focus to increase “cultural and community awareness among the members of the Rensselaer community and to prepare our students to be facilitators of inclusivity in diverse environments,” this does not seem to be happening in the student body.

Senator Eliza Hernandez teases, “diversity—you mean the lack thereof. [RPI] is so small, and so it is very segregated with the whites in one place and the blacks and Latinos in another.”

In an attempt to educate the community on black culture, the Black Students Alliance at Rensselaer organizes Black History Month, a month-long series of events for the campus community.

“The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “Pride in Culture.” We decided on this theme because we felt that it promoted a sense of community among all cultures on RPI’s campus,” said Shevonne Bascom, BHM co-chair.

Bascom went on to say that ‘Pride in Culture’ emphasizes the importance of black history and forces students to reflect on how far they, as a people, have come.

“The black culture is not usually advertised and remembered ... people know, but rarely stop to think about it. This whole month highlights everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve accomplished. There is a need,” remarked

junior Laurie Rangasawmy ‘03.

“My friends and I once frequented events put on for Black History Month, but because my time is so limited I no longer view it as a priority,” said senior Kimberly Creque.

The black culture is comprised of many diverse groups including Africans, African-Americans, Caribbeans, and Caribbean-Americans; Black History Month is the time to celebrate their achievements.

“It is a time for us to get together and reflect on our history and appreciate our ancestors who paved the way for many of the opportunities we have today. It is also a time for us to share our culture with the other cultures on campus so they might be able to have a better understanding, appreciation, and respect for our culture,” explained Doris Lewis, BHM co-chair.

Geared towards minorities first and everyone else second the chairs were very careful in preparing programs that are of interest to an audience of color. The feeling was that, “if these students do not participate in these events, why would other cultural groups come and show their support,” said Bascom and Lewis.

While the chairs have found it difficult to recruit upper-class minority students they have also found it difficult to attract others who do not usually attend “black” functions.

The co-chairs tried to promote their events by posting a copy of the calendar to the BSA website as well as posting flyers at various campus locations and sending out copies of the calendar to various campus e-mail list servers. Bascom and Lewis each echoed the other by saying that they have seen new people attending events at this year’s BHM.

Hernandez added that it is important for everyone at RPI to celebrate BHM in order to learn about cultural differences prior to entering the workforce as opposed to after the fact.

“We would like the Rensselaer community to know that BSA is a cultural organization designed to help promote the African and African-American cultures on campus. Through the events planned for Black History Month and Black Awareness Week, we intend to increase the awareness of the African and African-American cultures to the Rensselaer community. It is important for us to share our culture with others on campus because our history has made substantial contributions to American history as a whole,” concluded BHM co-chairs.

“Every month of the year, black history should be acknowledged, but February is set aside specifically for those who are clueless to the culture so that they have the opportunity to learn more,” said Laurie Rangasawmy.

Events for the month opened with a play by Pin Points Theater at West Hall. Other events included a 1001 Black Inventions presentation on February 1st, and The Middle Passage, a documentary on slavery and its effects throughout the world.