The Cal Poly Associated Students, Inc. Board of Directors listened to an hour’s worth of student and faculty comments at their meeting on Wednesday.
The sentiment echoed by most speakers was that more should be done to help and support students of color on campus.
Professors and students said a rash of racist posters and acts happened this week and racial tension continues to dominate the conversation on campus.
"Black and brown students are underrepresented," said a member of Cal Poly staff. "We have less than 200 black students on campus and over 12,000 white students. They are outnumbered every single day that they step foot on this campus."
The ASI Board of Directors serves as the official voice for students at Cal Poly. At Wednesday’s meeting, students packed the room and took to the podium to address their well being on campus.
"It’s not one incident, it’s decades and centuries of racism on this campus," another Cal Poly staff member said. "It’s not this one incident, it’s not this one person or group, it’s a culture on this campus."
With Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong sitting in on the meeting, students complained of covert and overt forms of racism towards people of color.
"This week, I’ve had hurtful things said to me," said one of the students on the board. "This issue hurts to the core."
"The administration should be ashamed that students of color have the burden of doing the work. You should be doing the work," one student said. "Students of color are losing sleep and they aren’t focused on their classes."
Students said they do not want to let the administration forget about this issue and plan to stay vocal throughout campus.
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