Black Student Union leads OC campus in a march for change

“Our lives are in trouble; burst that bubble.”

This was the call to action from dozens of students, faculty and staff on Friday, Sept. 25, as the Black Student Union led a march for change around Oklahoma Christian University.

The march was organized largely in the aftermath of a grand jury’s failure to charge the police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was fatally shot after three officers executed a search warrant on the wrong home. 

After the news broke on Wednesday, Sept. 23, many Black students at the march said they felt shocked and distressed. However, they said they did not see the majority of the Oklahoma Christian community reacting in the same way. 

BSU President Elise Miller said things felt “too normal” on campus.

“Almost every individual I came in contact with was ignorant of the immense collective pain students of color felt Wednesday,” Miller said. 

According to BSU officer AJ Jeffries, the march was meant to highlight the pain of students of color as their feelings and reactions to discrimination and justice are often ignored.

“Today, with our built-up anger and grief and all of the emotions that we are feeling, we want to bring the discussion to [students],” Jeffries said. “You can’t hide from us when we’re standing at your door and we’re ready to talk.”

Jeffries said there is a phenomenon on campus known as the “OC bubble,” which he defines as a “lack of knowledge and awareness of outside issues and moments which affect minority members of our community.”

“The majority of OC focuses on its internal issues like rush, intramurals and what they are going to wear today,” Jeffries said. “No one has even thought to ask a lot of our minority students how they feel about things like the hearing on Breonna Taylor.”

Jeffries said he believes the “bubble” is a way for Oklahoma Christian students and faculty to ignore the realities of racism or injustice.

 “The bubble is meant to keep race out of issues that OC decides to finally tackle,” Jeffries.

BSU secretary Kiva Maxwell said the march was caused by an amalgamation of injustices felt by minority students. Wide-scale events like police brutality cause students to act, as well as campus incidents like the OC 18 or the Oklahoma Christian recruiter who was leading racially charged activities. 

“Let this march be a stepping stone to commit to radical change on this campus,” Maxwell said.

The march began at the Thelma Gaylord Forum, with participants making a loop around campus, from residential halls to the administration buildings.

Participants carried signs, chanted and sang songs as the group made its way around campus twice. All participants wore masks due to COVID-19.

The march concluded in the forum with messages from BSU officers and a time for discussion and reflection between participants.

During her message, Miller said the march was intended to promote change in Oklahoma Christian’s administration.

“We march because we want Oklahoma Christian University to care deeply about matters of injustice… by investing in matters of diversity,” Miller said. “By having a chief diversity officer and a diversity office. By hiring professors of diverse backgrounds and continuing the African American studies program.”

Miller also said the group hopes to influence the entire Oklahoma Christian community to consider what is happening outside of its “bubble” and make changes.

“OC is a microcosm of our society,” Miller said. “Black people feel pain everywhere in America, but large scale societal changes begin in our own communities.”

BSU Vice President DJ Walter closed the march with a message of encouragement.

“Don’t let this be the finish line of starting change on this campus,” Walter said. “Let this be the starting point.”