Students from the Afrikan American Student Advisory Council and the Union Activities Board met with Chancellor Randy Woodson and other administrators for a closed meeting regarding the cancellation of the Pan-Afrikan concert.
The meeting served as an “initial conversation” about moving forward with the concert cancellation, according to Justine Hollingshead, assistant to the vice chancellor and dean for the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, and Dean of Academic and Student Affairs Mike Mullen.
Students and administrators planned Monday’s meeting because Woodson, Provost Warwick Arden and other leaders weren’t available during a similar meeting Thursday, said Marshall Anthony, AASAC chairperson and senior in business.
Lauryn Collier, UAB treasurer and senior in animal science, said she appreciated the administration listening to students’ concerns.
“I thought the meeting went well for what it was, [and] I appreciated the senior leadership listening to everything that the students had to say and to hear how their experiences on campus have been, specifically in the African American community,” Collier said. “I know there’s a concern that there’s a lack of cultural competence with the administration and even down to the professor level.”
However, Collier said she doesn’t know how effective these measures will be in the short term.
“I appreciate that the provost is willing to continue the conversations in the fall. However, I don’t know how productive that will be for this year’s leadership in the problems that they were facing and for the students graduating with ill feelings,” Collier said.
During the meeting, members of the UAB and the Black Students Board discussed two “action items,” one of which will attempt to schedule a replacement concert before the semester ends, Anthony said.
The UAB and the BSB will figure out the logistics for the potential substitute concert before it gets approved by senior administrators, according to Marshall.
Students and administrators also agreed to meet on a regular basis with AASAC and any other student groups to address their members concerns.
“I think today’s meeting was very successful. I think it hit on everything that should have been addressed at that time,” Anthony said.
Hollingshead said she expects several more meetings into the summer to ensure similar situations are handled fairly and consistently.
“This isn’t to say this will be the only meeting, and I think there are many meetings to come to discuss this scenario and how we should address student concerns on campus,” Hollingshead said. “It was a good beginning and a good start to renewing conversation between students and the administration.”
Hollingshead said the meeting was held in private to make sure student leaders could express their concerns with minimal distraction.
“This meeting was meant more to be for sharing concerns in an environment where the students felt comfortable saying anything, and sometimes when the media is there, it changes the nature of the environment a little bit,” Hollingshead said.
Seven student leaders from the UAB and AASAC, as well as Mullen, Hollingshead, Woodson, Arden and Vice Provost for the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity Joanne Woodard were in attendance.
Monday’s private meeting contrasted Friday’s rally at Talley Student Union called, “We do NOT have a voice: Rally at Talley,” hosted by the UAB. The rally was designed for students to “voice concerns and questions” about the University’s decision to cancel the concert, according to a UAB e-mail.
Administrators canceled the Pan-Afrikan concert per the recommendation of Campus Police and safety officials following a reported shooting incident involving headlining act, Migos, last week.
During the discussion, proposals were made to continue the event with Pusha-T, but it was not “logistically” feasible, according to a press release from Student Leadership & Engagement.
