D
arryl White, Sr. came to Queens in 1990 after serving in the military. Being older, he wasn’t interested in attending a large school, so the size of Queens and its close proximity to his hometown of Charleston,
South Carolina, made it a good fit. Once he became a student, he enjoyed the friendliness he felt in the cafeteria from fellow students, and he loved the legendary Miss Betty from the start. However, he couldn’t help noticing that there weren’t many students who looked like him in his classes, as Queens’ student population was approximately 95 percent white at the time. “Tese discussions about race that we’re having now, none of that was happening then,” recalled White, who now serves as the assistant dean for diversity, inclusion and community engagement for the university. “It’s so important that our students all feel welcome. I think if we want to be a global institution that welcomes everybody, then we need to be inclusive and make people feel good about coming to Queens.” One of the ways Queens is doing that is through the Queens
History Task Force on Slavery and Its Legacies, which White co- chairs with Sarah Fatherly, provost and vice president of academic affairs. Formed in early 2020, the task force, comprised of faculty, staff, students and alumni, was created after the school learned about its founding family’s ownership and treatment of slaves. Te task force met for the first time at the end of May and just a month later made the recommendation to rename Burwell Hall. Days later, the board of trustees moved unanimously to make that happen. Te building is now called Queens Hall. Racial justice initiatives are also being implemented in the athletics sector of Queens with the formation of the Royals Racial Reconciliation Coalition (R3C). Spearheaded by Cherie Swarthout, director of athletics; Bart Lundy, head men’s basketball coach; and Jen Brown, head women’s basketball coach, the mission of this group is to push back on hate and racial prejudice, as well as fight unconscious bias. In August, the group collaborated with the women’s basketball team for Walk the Walk, a virtual peaceful demonstration that attracted more than 1,000 participants. During the fall, R3C focused on voter registration and implicit bias education. “Queens is made of people from all walks of life,” said Brown,
“this is an opportunity for us to unite as one.” For more information regarding R3C, turn to page 7. Queens’ participation in the Charlotte Racial Justice
Consortium, along with Johnson C. Smith University, UNC Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College and Johnson & Wales University, is another way to continue and expand efforts beyond campus to unite the community. Tese colleges won a collective grant to provide funding for a Truth, Racial Healing,
“It’s so important that our students all feel
welcome...if we want to be a global institution
that welcomes everybody, then we need to be inclusive and make
people feel good about coming to Queens.”
DARRYL WHITE ’92
Assistant Dean, Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement
23
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