University of Dallas senior Joshua Nunn thought it would be easy to start a racial justice group on campus.
A group of students from the private Catholic university had already coalesced on a group chat after the police killing of George Floyd. They saw what felt like ineffectual exchanges about race on social media, and they wanted to create a club where any interested student could engage in more “heart-to-heart” conversations on race.
“I started to think about what I could do in my own stratosphere, my own world of influence,” said Nunn, who would be president of the group. “… I felt I needed to create a space where we could talk about things in an intellectual way, filled with compassion and love. [I wanted discussions where] we would see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ instead of how social media debates and conversations go.”
But the University of Dallas Student Government tabled the club’s proposal twice after pushback from faculty and students, who argued the club was divisive.
Now the future of the group is in limbo until next semester when students plan to submit an updated club constitution, with encouragement from the administration.
As a university, “our mission statement is ‘Love ye truth and justice,’” said senior Natalie Villafranca, who would be the club’s advancement officer. “This is seeking truth and justice.”
The racial justice group’s charter has already undergone a series of tweaks in response to backlash at the first student government hearing.
