Final Essay

The University of New England is a very small campus in Southern Maine known for its medical programs. The state of Maine if predominantly white which leaves little to no knowledge and experience about racism and the impacts it has. The university would be a perfect place to inform people on this issue because many people of many different ethnicities travel to attend this school, and because it’s so small, voices would be heard.

The athletics department is one of the biggest programs for student involvement. Hundreds of students are on all the sports teams of all seasons. If an anti-racist movement were to have an impact at the school I believe it should start with these students. They have ways to make their voice heard across campus. If they were to make a difference, they should research information on the topic and go from there.

Having a professional speaker who’s an expert in this area would be beneficial to come talk to the student body regarding this issue and having people share their experiences and opinions would be more effective and real for the people who aren’t aware of how what racism does to others. This could make a big impact because if some of the student body were willing to share their experiences it would show their fellow classmates different sides of them and having a friend go through certain experiences makes them realer,

Many people are hesitant to join clubs and organizations on campus because of what others might think or they might not have time in their schedule. I think that in order to get more people to be active in school activities and participate in this there should be times and dates set when they meet and shouldn’t be disciplined if they were to miss meetings. These meetings should be used to discuss different ways to share their experiences and raise awareness.

This movement may be hard to keep lasting so recruiting people who are in the incoming freshman class should be aware. At orientation or accepted students day there should be scheduled events where students are able to pick and choose which clubs they want to visit. This club should have their own scheduled time and room for them to discuss what the movement is about and how to get involved.

When the organization gets started, students involved should make their movement heard around biddeford by going to local schools in southern Maine to make the issue heard, then start making their way across the state.

Like I said, sports teams should also keep this going. Students who are involved with athletics may volunteer to help the club/movement. Perhaps by having an announcement at games or start a march like the women’s march to gain popularity. The women’s march started small and became famous from all of the people who heard about it; it started spreading across the country and still is. If movements like the women’s march can gain this much recognition, then a anti-racist march should have the same effects.

Having a march across biddeford would make not only the student body aware of the movement, but also the locals of Biddeford.