The SGA Task Force on Anti-Racism (STAR) installed a display Nov. 28 in the hallway between Buntrock Commons and Boe Memorial Chapel. The display represents St. Olaf’s ongoing struggle with institutional racism. It also emphasizes students’ perceived lack of transparency on the part of the administration.
The first part of the display features emails sent to the St. Olaf administration by students regarding institutional racism, STAR student leader Joey Dagher ’20 said. It also features an open hand, depicting someone signaling ‘stop’.
The second part of the display features a fist and evidence of student resistance aimed at making St. Olaf a more inclusive environment. The third part of the display features a hand with closed fingers in order to indicate scolding. It included media responses to the student protests which took place in the spring of 2017.
The last part features two hands reaching for one another. The two hands represent resources on campus which aim to facilitate inclusion.
“That one was purposefully left predominately empty,” Dagher said. “It shows the lack of resources on campus when it comes to making students of color on campus feel comfortable.”
All of the hands in the display are transparent.
“The transparent hands are a metaphor for things done with transparency and things that were not,” Dagher said.
