Highlights

The campus and broader Oneonta community came together on September 4, 2012, in what provocative democratic intellectual Dr. Cornel West called a “profound healing of the painful.”

Dr. West delivered a rousing speech for a standing-room only crowd of more than 2,700 students, faculty, staff and community members during the college’s recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Black List.

On September 4, 1992, SUNY Oneonta shared information about all of its male African American registrants with the New York State Police, who were seeking suspects as part of a criminal investigation. The disclosure, which sparked outrage and raised civil rights, racial profiling and privacy issues, came to be known as the Black List.

The college dedicated September 4, 2012, as a day to examine diversity-related issues through a series of activities culminating in Dr. West’s lecture. More than 4,000 people participated in “Beyond the List: A Teach-in: Remembrance and Reconciliation,” a day of lectures, film screenings, discussions and other activities designed to engage the campus community in honest reflection on a troubled time in the college’s history, the progress we’ve made since, and the work that remains.

“Today, we pledge to redouble our efforts to make this campus a welcoming, safe and inclusive community to all,” said college

President Nancy Kleniewski during an atonement ceremony at which all were invited to water a tree that was planted at the Center for Multicultural Experiences as a living expression of our shared commitment to equity and inclusion.

The Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, West graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. A political pundit, actor, recording artist and prolific author, West is best known for his books Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his new memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.

In a 40-minute speech rich with historical and cultural references ranging from the Civil War to The Social Network, West urged the audience to engage in self-examination, think critically and fight injustice. “Do we have the courage to engage in examination of ourselves? Not finger-pointing, not name-calling: of ourselves—as persons, as communities, as nations, as a species.”

White supremacy, male chauvinism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and class bias will always exist on some level, West said. “The question is, ‘Who is exerting the effort to fight against what has been deposited inside of us?’”

West lauded the campus community for coming together in the face of catastrophe and encouraged them to continue to raise tough questions, be forces for good, and seek higher intellectual and moral ground. “That’s what you did today, and I salute you.”

Photo caption: Dr. Cornel West addresses a standing-room-only crowd in the Alumni Field House. Photo by Ian Austin.