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THE SCARLET AND BLACK

April 30, 1971

While Younkers Residents Tell Experiences

bY Debbie McKnight

As a parallel to the April
lﬁth interview with black Yoe
unker residents, the S & B
presents excerpts of inter-

' Views suggesting some white
reactions to the cluster sys-
tem.

The arrangement had no ef-
fect on respondents' decision
to live in Younkers. South Pr-
esident Pat O’Connor said:

"When presidents were e1-
ected last year the Younker
proposal had just been rushed
through and we didn’t lcnow
much about it. Mary Brooner
did ask us how we'd feel ab-
out being president here, and
I worried thatblack kids might
not be excitedabout havingme.
But I talked so some girls
in the hall who saidlshouldn't
be concerned. They said it
made no difference to them.
Acutally, who’s president
doesn't to white kids either."

SA Pat Leebens “wantedtobe
in the Younkers. I had a dif-
ferent conception of what it
was supposed to be. After I
came here I read the CBS
proposal and understood that
the intention was black unity
rather than a more general
effort to ease black students
into a white community.”

“I was aware that the hall
would be different from oth-
ers, said Joan Medak, ”butl
had no preconceived notions
about any particular prob-
lems.”

Linda DuMont explained: “I
came here because Iwanted a
single in a coed hall. I didex-

_,pect some kind of tension."

Freshmen

White freshmen were spared
any preconceptions since they
were not informed ofthe clus‘
ter arrangement. Harry Der-
derian described the letter he
received from North Presi-
dent John Otto:

“HE said living in Younkers
would be interesting because
of the experiment. I thought
he was talking about it being
coed."

Asked if they were aware
of the CBS proposal's actual
intent, most white uppers
classmen shared the fresh-
men's ignorance. This was
frequently pointed out as a
major weakness of the hall -
that white students started
with incorrect expectations of
an "interracial living situa-
tion." This attitude could have
been indirectly encouraged by
upperclassmen's remember-
ing a purposely "interracial
house" in existence here two
years ago. Once aware of the
clusters‘ purpose, respon—
dents supported it.

"We take it for granted that
as freshmen we can pour out
troubles to people on the fr—
oor,” said O’Connor. ”We
don’t realize that black kids
may just hole up in their
rooms in a white dorm."

Derderian commented: Q“.
entin Phea explained the situa-
tion to me, and Ithought it was
excellent. Ikeptimaginingwhs
at it would be like for me to
go to a black school and how
much I’d like some orientat-
ion. That’s something a whole
lot of white kids here fail to
understand."

One Conflict

There was only one insnance
of real “conflict" in the hall -
a disagreement over the [816‘
vision last fall. The people
interviewed saw it as a tri-
vial personal incident. How
ever> at the time it inspired
a hall meeting to directly

confront assess the Younker
situation.

O'Connor explained: "John
(Otto), Tederman, Conney
Kimbo, and i thought it was
a good time for discussion.
The meeting started with a
little too much defensiveness,
but by the end several people

both black and white were
standing around the lounge
for hours, talking about what
they had learned.

"Of course some members
of both races thought it was
unnecessarily calling attens
tion to the situation, and
they were offended. They were
already convinced so the me-
eting made no difference to
them."

"I was glad that problems
came to the surfact in that
meeting," said Leebns, “But
I was upset when people act-
ed unlike themselves. Some
blacks became more milit-
ant than usual and some whr
ites became more defensive
and unaSSertive."

Scott Weil commented: “I
wasn’t upset so much by what
was said as by what was ims
plied. Everybody seemed to
suggest that the two races
would never get together. I
kept thinking that if it didn't
work here, it couldneverwork
in the larger society."

Derderian thought the me-
eting might have doneasmuch
harm as good: “if bad feeling
didn‘t exist before the meets
ing, I'm sure it would have
for some people afterward.
I mena, it's notnormalto have
Dean Kimbo come in over a
TV hassle. It made every—
thing seem more dramatic.

Cluster System

Few complaints specifimlly
concerned the cluster system.
Three students believed the
living situation allowed some
black residents to intimidate
certain white hallmates. Var~
ious explanations were offer-
ed for this such as the in?
dividual personalities_involv-
ed.

Qie girl remarked: "Indivis
dual conﬂicts were at times
accentuated by the existence of
a group. Blacks could sort of
'band together' inagivensitu-
ation or against a given'per-
son. With the Cluster System
enlarged next year, I don’t
think there will be much hall
life for White residents."

Another resident comment'
ed in a similar vein: “One
problem is that the blacks
tame here very cohesive, in
a definite group. White stun
dents didn’t have this kind
of unity, and the hall leader
ship did no almost nething to
provide it. So you had the
obvious tensions of a close
group and then a bunch of
separate individuals together
in one place."

A girl saw much of the tenv
sion in Younkers as the re~
sult of a mmpusswide trend
toward inconsiderateness.
Her major complaint like most

In spring...

whites', was noise which ev-
eryone refused to accept as
a particular cultural charae
cteristic. The senior from
South admitted:

”Living here has increased
my cynicism about people's
tolerance and consideration
for each other." But the feels
ing everywhere on this cam-
pus is that you push things
to the limit , until some
body complains, and maybe
even then you do your own
thing."

Race vs. People Problems

Several respondents felt that
people of bath races erred in
treating normal dorm fric-
tions as racial conﬂict. Pat
Leebens said:

It’s been stressed that this
isn't an interracial living
experience , that blacks want
to go their way and whites
will go theirs. But when a
black and white do run into
a problem, somebody always
cries ‘race.’

"Some black girls here th-
ought a certain White girl
was being a racist because
she always told them to be
quiet. They didn't realize that
she complained like that to
everybody. It’s important to
realize that sometimes the
differnece is one of person-
ality, rather than racism.

"in a little different way,
white people have to learn
not to take too personally a
certain general black refusal
to mlk to white people. The
individual has to avoid falling
into tremendous guilt about
that."

O'Connor alsomentionedthat
some white people people's
problems may have stemmed
from ""things built up in th-
eir own minds. If they found
living here difficult, it was
probably because they were
unable to find the self-confi-
dence to be honest and speak
up...

Derderian suggested that 00‘
casionally it was difficult for
some white residents to avoid
generalizing problems into a
racial one.

"For people raised in a rac-
ist society, at bad times it
can be hard to keep rational
and keep understanding. Fees
ple get upset and may start
thinking in racial terms, es,
pecially if they come from a
place where "nigger" is the

BATTEY TEXACO

Sixth Ave.

A young man‘s fancy lightly iurns to...

(from Ahrv’s, naturally)

236-6222 NEWSWANCQUS 236—6222

regular word for 'black."‘

Inherent Division

All respondents perceiveda
definite split in the hall which
they felt was inherent to the
Younker situation and not nee
cessarily in itselfa problem.
Pat O'Connor did not "see
anything destructive in it. Ev-
en though there’s not a whole
lot of socializing here, it 5e,
ems like a friendly hall to
me."

Linda DuMont said, “There
has been separation, but not
the tension l expected. Peo-
ple on campus keep saying
they hear there's a lot of
tension in the Younkers. I
don’t feel it's been serious.
”This is basimlly peaceful
coexistence."

"People tolerate each oth-
er," Weil remarked. "To a
large extent we have respect-
ed each other. It's a nice hall
for people who mntprivacy."

Some white said that given
the opportunity to live in
Younkers again, the cluster
would not be important in
their decision. Two would
like coming back, Leebens
said. "I've enjoyed this year,
and I'm pretty exicited about
some of the people who will
live here next year , espec-
ially the candidates for hall
officers."

Another student believed that
hall leadership could be very
important in "making this a
real living situation, not just
a hotel. Leadership is always
important and especially here,

Weil "would like to live here
again. Where I mm from most
people have the same back-
ground. Younkers has been
very exciting for me. I've le—
arned that a lot of things I
used to assume are not re-
ally true.

Those who did not want to
repeat the experience agreed
with Medak: "I don't think I'd
want a similar situation again
because the nature of the hall
prevents real unity, I respect
black people's right to the cl-
uster arrangement; l'd just
like a more cohesive hall for
myself."

Deredian's reason for pre-

ferring another hall was dif‘
ferent: I’ll be an SA next
year, and l definitely don't
feel qualified to counsel bls
asks. I can't deal with all the
subtle problems they face
here."

Qt the subject of whether
an all-black floor would have
been beneficial to white stu-
dents, everyone said it would
have been a superficial impr‘
ovement at best.

“It might have lessened the
‘conﬂict in lifestyles,’ " said
O’Connor.

Most saw the separate floor
as unrealistic and believed it
would increase problems when
white and black residents did
inevitably meet somewhere.

"At least the cluster system
forces white people to confront
the fact that some people on
their floor do net particulary
want to be sociable," DuMont
explained. “White people are
going to meet blacks withsep-
aratist ideas, and they might
as well start here."

Leebens said, “A black fl—

oor would appear to a let of
whites here as a sort of ties
feat. It would be a sign that
there's no hope of ever living
together in peace."
_ Asked if their de factointer
racial living experience had
been of any benefit, some resr
pondents found it an awaken-
ing, however unintentional.

Che thing I've noticed in
particular," said Weil, "and
that’s how often we think we're
open minded, but then right
here in this hall some white
people try to make blacks
conform to their standards.

Derderian commented: “At
the meeting last fall a lot of
white kids said they thought
blacks were here so whites
could lam from them . . .I
can understand why black kids
resented that king of guinea
pig thing. But 1 still can't
help feeling that I’ve learned
a lot about black feelings by
living here."

Next week: professors and
students speak in depth about
black studies courses, any
problems therein this year,
and the limitations ofa white
professor teaching those
courses.

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