By Azhley Rodriguez
Dominican and the village of River Forest have launched a partnership that students hope will combat racial profiling and provide a safe space for students of color on and around campus.
Dominican’s Board of Trustees will vote on the partnership at a December meeting, according to local media reports. The River Forest Board of Trustees approved it at its Oct. 26 meeting.
Off and on-campus, safety and high-profile national cases of police brutality and abuse were on Dominican students’ minds this fall, leading some to speak up in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement and urging the Dominican administration to do the same.
The Walk began on the quad and continued in small groups to Priory campus and back to promote social distancing. Sharing stories of adversity in the quad emphasized the need to make a change in the village of River Forest for Black students. Tony Sandifer, a student who attended the walk describes the experience saying, “it was really powerful, like a whole army marching down the street. It was amazing.”
While Dominican’s student body is 56.4 percent minority, the surrounding village of River Forest is 84.75 percent white. That was the context for problems that minority students commuting to Dominican have had in the past, according to a study by Clinton Nichols, professor of criminology.
Nichols investigated the traffic stops conducted by River Forest Police Department (RFPD) from 2010-2015. Through his research he discovered, “that RFPD disproportionately stops motorists who are African American or Latinx.” Nichols encouraged “students, from all backgrounds, to keep up pressure on Dominican to address concerns.”
The Walk of Solidarity allowed students on campus to emphasize the need for the caritas veritas mission to be spread into the village of River Forest. This way, students of color could feel safe on and off campus. For students who live on campus for most of their college experience, they expect to feel safe in the Village community when they are not on campus. Like when they go for a Target run or fill up their gas tank. For commuters, they expect a safe encounter with RFPD should one ever happen.
Chief Diversity Officer Sheila Radford-Hill praised student efforts.
“The advocacy of these students will ensure a campus that meets their needs.” She states there is a plan in place to address the concerns of students, a plan called, “A World of Difference.” Dominican has additional avenues to address those concerns she said, “a President’s Advisory Council composed of students with the support of alumnae/i exists to hold the University accountable to address these concerns,” she said. “It has clear metrics that should also be reported to the Student Government Association. Students should know how we’re doing.”
On campus, Dominican has the Village program that works closely to satisfy the needs of Black students. It is a mentor program with the goal in mind of helping them navigate their college experience. Each freshman gets paired with an upperclassman who mentors them through their first year of college and when they become second year students, they mentor someone while keeping their previous mentor, and so forth. Students in the program receive a stipend for their participation.
Student Tony Sandifer says “it’s a really nice community. It’s about giving students the resources they need.”
Stories by Azhley Rodriguez 