Students March for Black and Asian Lives Matter Movements
OSWEGO, N.Y. – With the rise of many racially motivated attacks against Asian Americans, marches and protests have been occurring across the nation. On Friday, SUNY Oswego students organized their own rally to bring attention to the issue. Oswego’s Student Government Association led the charge.
This will not be the first time Oswego’s Student Association has spearheaded a march since the pandemic. They organized a Black Lives Matter march around campus as well to help promote awareness and spark conversation among students last summer. That was soon followed by several events as organizations collaborated on discussion panels and Oswego implemented a three part series titled “Oz Against Injustice.” From there, SA was able to have informational and healing sessions for participants to voice their opinion and connect with others.
Khine Wai, the Senator of Oswego’s Student Government, hopes that these events will soon carry over into the Stop Asian Hate movement, as many of the international students look to the school as a safe space and their home away from home.
“I hope that we can educate and inform people about the inequalities here and shine a light on the Asian community,” Khine Wai said. “Racism towards Asians has been occurring for a while, and is finally receiving attention within the media. By having these conversations we can become more aware of how racism takes a toll within our communities.”
On Friday, students gathered socially distanced to peacefully march and talk about racism-related issues that have personally affected their own lives at home and within the campus community at SUNY Oswego.
SUNY Oswego provides multiple resources to students regarding diversity, inclusion, and equity. With services such as SUNY Oswego’s Incident Reporting and the counseling center, students can confide to the staff on issues such as oppression and racism. Whether it is a community or a student concern, these options are available to students to report any incidents to campus police, the dean of students, or local law authorities depending on the severity of the situation.
To report an incident you can visit: https://www.oswego.edu/student-conduct/report-incident
To connect to a telecounseling service you can contact them at 315-312-4416