Keynote speaker Michael Eric Dyson gives an inspiring speech during the Speaker Blowout Event. Photo by Chelsea McKeown

The lights dimmed, clamorous chattering came to a halt and the background music dwindled into silence. As students sat quietly and attentively, Michael Eric Dyson stepped onto the stage.

“Like Biggie said, ‘Pink gators, my Detroit players/’Timbs’ for my hooligans in Brooklyn,’” Dyson said.

The crowd’s silence broke into an uproar of cheering and laughter as they applauded the Detroit-born professor, author, radio show host and academic’s reference to The Notorious B.I.G’s 1996 hit song, “Hypnotize” before he swiftly shifted back to intellectual vernacular.

Dyson spoke at the Stevenson Event Center May 9 for the sixth annual speaker blowout. The jointly organized SUA and Engaging Education event was aimed toward addressing issues that affect access to higher education and the success of under-resourced and under-represented communities on campus.

“There are a lot of students struggling that need a sense of community and we thought that Dr. Michael Eric Dyson would be that person to help bridge that gap in building solidarity between different communities here on campus,” said Abel Pineda, co-program coordinator for Engaging Education.

Dyson’s ability to reach students and elucidate what he called, “the powers and perils of diversity,” lies not only in his master’s degree and doctorate from Princeton University, the 16 books he has authored, his countless appearances on several major media outlets, his former show on NPR or his current position as a sociology professor at Georgetown University, but also in his own personal background and presence.

Stretches of erudite speech were frequently sprinkled with commentary and jokes, and sometimes song — or rap — to support Dyson’s thoughts. From Trey Songz to Marvin Gaye, at various points the staid tone erupted into fingers snapping and hands clapping as the audience sang along with Dyson’s use of musical reference to engage the crowd.

In addition to Dyson’s magnetic speaking abilities, he did not shy away from addressing the issues surrounding race and ethnicity. His talk urged students to eradicate an assigned hierarchy of difference and to embrace diversity.

“The beauty of diversity is that those outsiders come to the table, shape the table, ask questions about who’s at the table, begin to participate, begin to be included, begin to be integrated, begin to be invited,” Dyson said. “It invites voices that didn’t used to be heard to be heard, faces that were never seen to be included.”

Dyson warned against discrimination between separated minority groups and its potential to divest diversity of its radical intent to challenge the majority. He said it was important instead to understand the universality of different communities while emphasizing the value in maintaining their unique differences.

“The differences among ourselves are suppressed, so our challenge is figuring out ways to embrace and allow to breathe those differences that make us who we are,” Dyson said.

Inciting dialogue on inclusion and diversity within the campus community was essential to the event organizers.

“An event like this and a speaker like this is especially important to SUA because people need to be challenged,” said DT Amajoyi, SUA commissioner of diversity. “It will challenge [students] to not just stick with the status quo, but to figure out what it is that’s going on.”

Amajoyi said the talk is especially relevant for the upcoming academic year with plans for new programs in critical race and ethnic studies on campus. Voices of underrepresented communities are also threatened with voter ID laws and other legislation like SB1070 and HB56.

Voter ID laws require a person to show formal identification to vote and are thought by some to be a problem of intimidation to voters of underrepresented communities. SB1070 is an Arizona law that obliges immigrants to have registration documents in possession at all times. HB56 is another Arizona law that “[requires] a person to present proof of citizenship and residency before voting,” according to the act.

Dyson’s words also reflect and encourage the collaboration that took place between SUA and Engaging Education to plan and execute the evening along with several other organizations that came together to help support the event.

“Different ethnic organizations and different student organizations on campus are very divided in a sense because they have their own projects and they want to do their own things,” said Adrianne Sebastian, co-program coordinator at Engaging Education. “But we felt it was necessary to promote cross-collaboration and joining together of different spaces.”

“Some of the ideas that were brought up and introduced by Dyson and the students are very instrumental in terms of how we are going to continue producing programs,” said Engaging Education co-program coordinator Pineda, “and hopefully be producing more collaborative programs within the different communities.”

Dr. Cornel West speaks at Classroom Unit 2 on Friday, May 6. SUA and E2 coordinated the event. Photo by Michael Mott.

The atmosphere inside Classroom Unit 2 was tense.

Opening remarks had been made at UC Santa Cruz’s Speaker Blowout, and the stage was set for the main attraction of the evening: Dr. Cornel West.

Suddenly, a hush fell over the room and the side door on stage right opened. In strolled West, and up shot the audience. Approximately 400 people were on their feet, clapping and cheering with the same enthusiasm college students usually reserve for movie stars and rappers.

But West is a different kind of celebrity. Holding degrees from both Harvard and Princeton, West is an internationally known philosopher, author, orator and civil rights activist. He is best known for his work in social justice related to race, gender and class in American society.

Speaker Blowout is an annual event that aims to provide a space for students to be educated and informed about issues directly affecting access to institutions of higher learning.

Taking the podium, West began his speech with a question.

“The most important question we can ask ourselves is, ‘What does it mean to be human?’”

This kind of Socratic questioning was a frequent theme in West’s speech. Touching on issues of race, class, the legacy of white supremacy, gender and modern politics, West’s speech highlight- ed the progress that still needs to be made for social justice in America, and the importance of critical inquiry.

“We must come to terms with all forms of suffering,” West said. He urged the audience not to be satisfied with the status quo, and to remove themselves from the pursuit of material happiness. “Become misfits maladjusted to the indifference of the main-

stream,” West said. “From ‘bling bling’ to ‘let freedom ring.’”

West drew upon elements of African American culture in his discourse about social justice, referring to himself as “a blues- man in the life of the mind” and to the true nature of human existence, complete with its beauty and atrocities, as “the funk.” West called those who work for social justice “participants in the funk.”

Before beginning his speech, West acknowledged SUA chair Tiffany Loftin in front of the crowd, calling her “the visionary leader.” Loftin, along with Engaging Education (E2) program coordinators Kalwis Lo and Sahira Barajas, were the driving forces behind booking West. Loftin

said securing such a high-profile speaker was not an easy task.

“There were a lot of hurdles we had to jump over,” Loftin said. “But it was something I had my heart set on.”

Loftin said the main obstacle to bringing West to UCSC was money. The total cost for the event was $30,000, and the SUA and E2 had to fundraise over half the cost after donating $12,000 out of their own operating budgets. E2 program coordinator Kalwis Lo described the trio’s fundraising strategy.

“We wrote a letter to every administrator and college provost, telling them about our event and what our intentions were,” Lo said.

While some people Lo, Barajas and Loftin reached out to did not provide financial support, others

offered use of facilities or moral support. Colleges Nine and Ten provost Helen Shapiro was one of the event’s biggest financial supporters, donating a total of $2,000.

“I think Cornel West is an important voice, and the timing was good given [issues with graffiti] that have happened on campus,” Shapiro said.

Lo said their selection of West was partly in response to the rash of discriminatory graffiti been found on UCSC’s campus this year. The organizers of Speaker Blowout were hoping to use West’s prestige as a professor of African American studies at Princeton to further the movement for the creation of an ethnic studies program at UCSC, Lo said.

West emphasized that no matter what major, issues of social justice affect all students.

“Everything is at stake,” West said. “This has to do with what type of person you want to be, what type of society you want to have, what type of university you want to have.”

In closing, West encouraged all those who work for social justice to retain hope.

“Blues is about hope because the evidence always looks overwhelmingly bad,” West said. “But when you are a participant in the funk, all you’re looking for is movement.”

According to the admissions data for the freshman class of 2011, UCSC and UC Santa Barbara are tied for the highest percentage of admitted students who identify as white, at 37.5 percent. That is 6.9 percent above the systemwide average of 30.6 percent.

To give that figure more context, California’s over 33.8 million residents are 44.4 percent white, 34.9 percent Latino, 12.3 percent Asian-American or Pacific-Islander, and 6.4 percent black, according to the State Department of Finance’s survey. Somehow, UCSC is falling short on its promise to provide an education for all qualified high school graduates.

Illustration by Matt Boblet.

There are attempts to address this disparity, such as the UC’s Blue and Gold program, which promises that students whose households earn less than the median family income a year will pay no student fees. But these programs are not enough to truly provide equal access to all of California’s citizens. Many prospective students of color would be the first in their family to attend an institution of higher learning. High student fees, with or without the Blue and Gold program, foster a perception that a UC education is solely for the rich. Because of the low percentage of UC students from minority communities, a student of color who chooses to attend a UC may experience cultural isolation.

Engaging Education works to change the social climate for students of color. Their Student Initiated Outreach (SIO) programs connect prospective students of color with current UCSC students who can share their stories and inspire them to seek a college education. One program covers all travel expenses for accepted students of color to stay at UCSC for a weekend visit. This experience allows them to bond with current students of color, thereby setting up a community for students, should they accept the offer of admission.

Funding for SIO programs is limited. Aside from a modest allocation from the state, the programs are funded by a promise from the Chancellor to match fundraising accrued through a $5 student-approved campus fee distributed among the six UCSC resource centers. SIO receives only $1. The Chancellor originally promised to match these funds at a rate of $2 for every dollar raised. However, last year the Chancellor’s match dropped to $1.75 for every dollar. With $500 million in budget cuts projected, this number shows no signs of increasing anytime soon.

But it should.

Chancellor Blumenthal is himself a first-generation college graduate, and says the SIO programs are one of his favorite things about the campus. If Chancellor Blumenthal and UCSC are truly committed to providing equal access to a UC education for all residents of California, then he should let his actions speak for him and sign a written agreement to permanently match funds at the original promise of $2 per dollar raised by students.

It is no secret that the university is strapped for cash. We have all heard the doomsday predictions about student fees of $20,000. The decisions made in this moment will shape the direction of the university for years to come. When determining spending policies, administrators should preserve the values the UC was founded on, not just the bottom line.