{"id":20854,"date":"2015-11-24T23:37:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T05:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=20854"},"modified":"2015-11-24T23:38:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T05:38:24","slug":"protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest erupts at NU groundbreaking ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Haydee Clotter <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">Hundreds of Northwestern University students crashed the groundbreaking ceremony for NU\u2019s athletic center this month, protesting that they didn\u2019t understand how NU could build a multimillion dollar facility when there isn\u2019t enough office space on campus to house organizations that cater to minorities.<\/p>\n<p>The protestors showed their solidarity with University of Missouri students over recent incidents aimed at  African-American students.  <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Missouri students forced the resignation of President Tim Wolfe over lack of university action in response to several racial discrimination incidents against blacks students there. One student received a picture of a black woman getting lynched, someone smeared a swastika on a wall and a white person played music featuring racial slurs, according to the Seattle Times. <\/p>\n<p> The Missouri football team joined the student demands for Wolfe&#8217;s resignation in the wake of the incidents and he did resign Nov. 9.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis Mizzou incident was literally years in the making,\u201d said Jade Mitchell, an NU student majoring in psychology and African-American studies. \u201cWe knew it was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"PROTEST- CLOTTER\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/146169375?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At Northwestern, protestors say the university is invading on space in the Black House, where African-American students plan events, conduct meetings and socialize in what they consider a safe place. <\/p>\n<p>The athletic center will include a full-sized indoor athletic field and a strength conditioning space for Olympic sports teams at the Ryan Fieldhouse. The Walter Athletics Center will be the home to NU football and a nutrition and dining center. <\/p>\n<p>But initial recommendations by administrators would have placed two administrative offices in the Black House. The offices of Campus Inclusion and Community at Scott Hall would move to the Black House.<\/p>\n<p>This change would affect organizations such as the Mixed Race Student Coalition, South Asian Student Alliance and  African Student Association, which all gather at the Black House. Many of the historically black fraternities and sororities also gather at the Black House.<\/p>\n<p>The protest was advertised on Facebook, and students from a variety of racial backgrounds joined together. They demanded the creation of a resource center and technology hub tailored to black students. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people in this world who have people power and people who have power of their paycheck,\u201d said sophomore Gwendolyn Gissendanner, a senator for For Members Only, a part of the Black Student Alliance that encourages social and cultural unity within NU\u2019s community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to be exclusive, we\u2019re not trying to exempt people, but we just want one space on this largely white campus that caters to us,\u201d Gissendanner said. \u201cWe want them to leave it alone. We want them to invest in our future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The protestors said NU is trying to take away resources from minorities. Different minority student organizations would be affected by having less office space for meetings. <\/p>\n<p>Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin posted a message on the university\u2019s website to address the Black House issue that read, \u201cFor now, I am suspending the proposed office location changes and halting any facilities improvements that have not yet begun. This effort is to build greater understanding and transparency in order to best serve our Black\/African American students.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Four Black House sessions were scheduled to give students the opportunity to have an open conversation about Black\/African-American experiences at Northwestern. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to let students know they\u2019re not alone,\u201d Mitchell said. \u200b\u200b<\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Students protest during athletic center event. (Haydee Clotter\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Haydee Clotter Hundreds of Northwestern University students crashed the groundbreaking ceremony for NU\u2019s athletic center this month, protesting that they didn\u2019t understand how NU could build a multimillion dollar facility when there isn\u2019t enough office space on campus to house organizations that cater to minorities. The protestors showed their solidarity with University of Missouri [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":21316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,28,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-general-interest","category-public-affairs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Protest erupts at NU groundbreaking ceremony - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protest erupts at NU groundbreaking ceremony - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Haydee Clotter Hundreds of Northwestern University students crashed the groundbreaking ceremony for NU\u2019s athletic center this month, protesting that they didn\u2019t understand how NU could build a multimillion dollar facility when there isn\u2019t enough office space on campus to house organizations that cater to minorities. The protestors showed their solidarity with University of Missouri [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-25T05:37:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-25T05:38:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-24-at-11.29.16-PM-e1448429547239.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1271\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"559\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Haydee Clotter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Haydee Clotter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/\",\"name\":\"Protest erupts at NU groundbreaking ceremony - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-24-at-11.29.16-PM-e1448429547239.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-25T05:37:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-25T05:38:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/204637dc154271bc6c947bdcc9c7f24c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/protest-erupts-at-nu-groundbreaking-ceremony\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-24-at-11.29.16-PM-e1448429547239.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/11\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-24-at-11.29.16-PM-e1448429547239.png\",\"width\":1271,\"height\":559,\"caption\":\"Students protest during athletic center event. 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