Forum attendees share experience with hate: Speakers focus on establishing common ground for discussion, University student organizations collaborate to organize forum

Calisha Myers, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor The South Asian Leadership Society, the NAACP Student Chapter and the Sikh Students Association co-sponsored a forum yesterday evening entitled “AMERICAN HATRED: are YOU part of it?” reflecting on recent University concerns of minority animosity. The forum began with attendees sharing their experiences of hatred at the University with each other and the event drew undergraduate and graduate students as well as administrators from many different backgrounds. Aleea Maye, a fourth-year College student and president of the NAACP chapter at the University and Neela Pal, a third-year College student and president of the South Asian Leadership Society, opened the forum by discussing the importance of finding common ground for dialogue and change. The forum was led by Preetmohan Singh, director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education fund, and M. Rick Turner, dean of the Office of African-American Affairs and president of the Charlottesville/Albemarle NAACP. Singh spoke mainly about hate crimes and racial profiling as a larger national problem, as well as the importance of everyone’s involvement in making changes. “What you’re doing here today is proactive, so I implore you to think about the big picture, to think about how we build a more inclusive community,” Singh said. “It’s our responsibility to be at the table.” Turner discussed incidents at the University, initiatives the University has taken and the importance of students holding the administration responsible for change. “What happens oftentimes in the history of higher education is that people fall asleep,” Turner said. “You guys are asleep. You sleep too long. All I’m asking is that you ask questions.” Turner also emphasized the importance of willingness by University administrators to be the leaders of change. “I haven’t seen any major changes,” Turner said of his 17 years at the University. “I think incidents are probably more reported, but I haven’t seen any progress. When we see leaders, students will rally behind that. But I haven’t seen that and unless that happens, I don’t think we’re going to see much change.” After hearing Singh speak about civil rights and discrimination in Washington, D.C. this summer, Pal came up with the idea of holding a forum concerning hatred both in America and at the University. Pal consulted Sikh Student Association President Jasjeev Sawhney, a third-year Engineering student, who worked with Singh over the summer. The two collaborated with the NAACP Student Chapter and under the advisement of Singh. “We wanted to put something together that bridged these distant communities,” Sawhney said of the African-American and Asian communities at the University. The collaboration between Sawhney and Pal and the African-American and Asian student groups is unique, according to Pal. “We don’t have intersections like this often at U.Va.,” she said. “That’s kind of what appealed to me. We have to think about these issues more creatively. We have to bring together individual groups and do things collectively.” This forum was one of the first events the newly reestablished NAACP Student Chapter sponsored. Maye said she was disappointed with African-American student turnout but that she was pleased with the forum overall. “All things considered, the turnout was great,” Maye said.