Wait, so my special interests won’t get me what I want?
According to Tomcat over at the Daily Emerald, Diego Hernandez and CAER, the Coalition Against Environmental Racism, has been stamping their feet like insolent children over a recent allocation of EMU office space that didn’t go their way.
A recently vacated office space in the Survival Center was up for grabs, and both CAER and the Alliance of Happy Atheists (AHA) applied for the space. Because of a relationship with ASUO President Emma Kallaway and the Survival Center, CAER didn’t think they really had to, you know, try to get the office space:
“The difference between their applications, CAER co-director Adrien Wilkie said, was that CAER, because of encouragement from Kallaway and the Survival Center to apply for the space, assumed that the Jan. 27 meeting at which an EMU Board subcommittee met to allocate space in the building was a formality.
“Honestly, we went into this thinking we had to apply just for bureaucracy’s sake,” she said. Neither she nor her fellow co-director skipped class to attend.”
On the other hand, AHA did some actual presenting and hard work, apparently.
“AHA’s application was far more detailed and its presentation more impressive. Committee members decided to give the space to AHA.”
Diego Hernandez, always the voice of reason in these situations, decided to send an angry e-mail to the EMU Board
“I personally have nothing against AHA,” he wrote. “Nor do I think this is their fault, but I also think that they do not do work that helps underrepresented and marginalized communities of color on this campus and in our community … I have never seen them do anything that has supported our communities, nor have I ever been invited to one of their programs or for that matter seen anything at all from them.”
As always, Diego’s understanding of the word “minority” is the problem here. Meaning “numerically disadvantaged” it should be advised that many people, even if they are not people of color, are minorities, Diego. Take this very blog, for example. Or take Atheists, which make up just 1.6% of the U.S. Demographic–a number that pales in comparison with the U.S. Demographic number of “racial minorities” of roughly 25%. It should also be mentioned that I rather doubt Diego has never “seen anything at all” from AHA. They stand right on the top of the Amphitheater sidewalk all the time. You’d have to be trying fairly hard to not see them.
But those are numbers that can be manipulated and twisted for whatever reason. The real point here, however, is how AHA worked for what they wanted and received it. I am surprised that CAER–which in my opinion, fights real, serious issues–neglected to think they’d be asked for some kind of real proof of relevancy.
