"Welcome White Week" ( Jillian English)

In the article, “’WhiteWeek’ Fliers Prompt Protest, Investigation on Kentucky Campus,” it explains how the students at Northern Kentucky University posted “Welcome White Week” fliers around campus in response to the traditional “Welcome Black Week” that happens every year at NKU. The “Welcome Black Week” event happens at many other universities around the country. This organization hosts a number of events and seminars around campus that introduce freshman students to the array of programs and organizations at NKU catered to African American students. NKU is not a very ethnically diverse school with 82.8% of undergraduate students being white and a small 6.7% being African American. “Welcome Black Week” was created in response to minority students not being actively included in the festivities the university has to offer. Many supporters of “Welcome White Week” believe disapproving “WWW” is hypocritical. Supporters of the “WWW” organization claim “WBW” participants segregate themselves by having their own week. However, many students were greatly disturbed by these mocking fliers and joined hands in the student union chanting “[they] will not be guided by fear or defeat” and “will beat the odds that are against” them. School officials have been notified and an investigation has begun.

Regarding this article and the racial tension that has spiked in the past year, the events brought to attention in this summary are highly controversial. I feel as if the people who created and supported the “WBW” organization were not out to denounce all other races but pursued the organization in order to help minorities feel more comfortable at the university. The supporters of “WWW” seem to think otherwise. They believe that there should be no boundaries or separation between races so therefore the organization “WBW” should not exist and if it does it exist they should be able to have their own organization, hence “WWW. In my opinion, the white students at NKU do not fully understand what the “WBW” organization is trying to accomplish because they are a majority and not a minority like the black population at the school. In closing statement, I believe that the “WBW” organization should be positively supported because it is an organization to help students and in no way has any intention to demean other races.