On the first day of classes, several hundred Skidmore students gathered outside of Palamountain Hall to protest the lack of action from Skidmore’s administration in protecting BIPOC students. Around 5pm, a crowd began to gather facing Case Green, as the student organizers from Pass The Mic reiterated the demands they had compiled from student suggestions.
The August 24th protest, which was organized by Pass The Mic, a student-led social activism platform on campus, was an opportunity for Skidmore students, faculty, and alumni to acknowledge the culture of racism that perpetuates on Skidmore’s campus. It was planned in conjunction with a phone and email zap, which targeted the mobile numbers and emails of pertinent Skidmore administrators in order to further spread the message behind the protest.
The near-20 policy demands, written by Black student leaders and activists, call for the Skidmore administration to address its complacency in the ongoing racism and bias that exists at the institution. At the top of the list, Skidmore must institute a zero-tolerance policy for racism among faculty, staff, students, and administrators. Additionally, Skidmore is urged to commit to action steps that will protect the BIPOC members of their community, which entails the immediate firing of professors and faculty members that endorse racist practices. (See https://linktr.ee/passthemicskid for the full list of demands compiled by Pass The Mic)
It is also expected that President Conner hosts an open and accessible dialogue concerning these demands, during which all students would have the platform to speak, ask questions, and receive transparent answers. The vague wording of President Conner’s recent emails concerning racial injustice at Skidmore and within the Saratoga community has had many students worried and demanding that it not stand in place of a facilitated discussion with his student body.
To this point, the crowd marched from Palamountain Hall to the Scribner House on North Broadway, which is where President Conner currently lives. Along the way, chants such as “No Justice, No Peace!” and “Say his name, George Floyd!” could be heard across campus.
Once outside the Scribner House, Pass the Mic leaders formally delivered their list of demands to President Conner. Then, they opened up the space and invited BIPOC students to voice their feelings about their experiences of racism on Skidmore’s campus. The stories that were shared by Black and minority students were emotional and intimate, as they touched on personal recounts of microaggressions and racism that they have felt from peers, faculty and the administration. Many encouraged their white peers in the audience to recognize their privilege and speak up when they see or hear racist precedences at Skidmore. One student speaker reminded the crowd of the work that goes into being an ally and anti-racist. They explained that being an ally requires an individual to not only keep themselves educated and informed on racial justice issues on campus, but remain compassionate, mindful and patient in this process. At the end of the march, the Pass The Mic student leaders reiterated this sentiment, encouraging Skidmore students to keep showing up to racial justice events, on campus and in Saratoga, throughout the semester.
Upon the protest’s conclusion, Skidmore News approached two student leaders of Pass the Mic, Adia Cullors ‘21 and Malchijah Hoskins ‘22, for a statement on their reaction to the protests' turn out and atmosphere.
Adia Cullors stated that she was “blown away with the turn out, and impressed and honored by the Black students that shared their stories.” She expressed that these stories “made [her] feel seen,” yet they also “left her disheartened as it showed that there is so much racism on campus that even freshmen have already seen it..”
Malchijah Hoskins was also “happy and moved by the turn out.” Before the event, he expressed “fear that something was going to happen,” but upon its conclusion, said: “I’m so happy it went smoothly!”
Adia was clear that she has been “very disappointed with Marc C. Conner’s responses over the summer, especially how he talks to Black students,” which outlines the extensive anti-racist work that needs to occur at Skidmore on both an administrative and community level. Pass The Mic emphasized the importance for Skidmore students to keep putting in the work, continue to show up, and treat this first-day protest as one action item out of many more to come.