Post-Election at GW: The Controversial Safe Space in a Polarizing Time

On Nov. 9 around midnight, it hit Jonathan Mendez and his suite mates that Secretary Hillary Clinton was not going to win the 2016 presidential election. 

Mendez began to fear what would happen to some of his undocumented family members and friends under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. During his campaign, Trump promised to aggressively deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. 

“(My friends) were confused as to what was to happen in the future,” He said. “No one knows.”   Mendez, a business student at the George Washington University, is of Spanish, Cuban and Dominican descent. 

That night, Mendez followed George Washington University (GW) tradition and walked to the White House after learning that Trump won the election.

When Mendez finally arrived at the White House he saw what he remembers to be a chaotic scene. “You had Hillary supporters and Trump supporters really going at it and security pulling people down from trees and arresting them,” he said. 

In the midst of that moment, people were also throwing glass bottles in the direction of Mendez. 

“People would chant ‘black lives matter’ and you can think what some Trump supporters would say back,” said Mendez. “It was a melting pot of disaster.”

Mendez returned to CasaBlanca, an affinity, or community-based, dorm that provides a safe space for Latino and Latina students on campus. “In times like these, it’s really important to have places like CasaBlanca,” Mendez said. 

Mendez was able to go back to a safe space and discuss his experience with his dorm mates, who he said can relate to his worries about Trump’s immigration stance and overt racism.

Mendez said there are a few Trump supporters in Casablanca, but he is able to still talk openly with them about the election.

Throughout Trump’s presidential campaign, people complained that his rhetoric enticed his supporters to act violently toward protesters.  

During 2015, the FBI reported that the number of hate crimes around the United States rose by 6.7 percent from the previous year. The report stated 7.9 percent of all racially motivated crimes occurred on schools or college campuses. 

Students of George Washington University protest days after Trump wins the White House. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center also reported at least 700 cases of hateful harassment or intimidation since the election. 

Many other spaces around campus also opened their doors after the election for students who wanted to share their experiences and fears of harassment. These spaces included: The William’s House that houses six black male and female students on campus, the Leah McCartney affinity dorm that houses black females on campus and the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC).

Seth Weinshel, the assistant dean of students and director of GW housing, said GW housing supports the creation of safe spaces around campus: “Giving people the space to talk and having dialogue is what moves this country forward and we only saw some of that (throughout the election cycle). The fellows at MSNBC and CNN are saying all of the polls are wrong, because people weren't honest. How can we get to a place where people can be honest?”

Weinshel explained that safe spaces allow students who closely relate to each other to openly discuss topics that may affect them. Opinions are allowed to be diverse as well as homogenous. Some spaces allow for outsiders to come and listen as well.

GW students are responsible for proposing and organizing their desired affinity dorm group. However, Housing executives can only approve the proposal if, among other things, everyone in the group has a GPA of at least 2.5 and if the group’s organizer submits a statement that explicitly states the purpose of the affinity. 

Weinshel said that the Leah Mcartney Affinity was not organized and did not have a plan when he was first approached with the idea. “Groups usually have a list of people who will be living in the affinity,” said Weinshel. “The women of color group didn't have anything, but we had people from the MSSC that helped back the idea.” 

Imani Ross, a sophomore and the student planner for the Leah Mcartney Affinity, opened the doors to her dorm suite along with her 19 other black suite mates living in the space after the election was over. 

Around 40 black freshmen visited the affinity following the election. “(They) came and they left smiling,” said Ross. “That was something I thought was positive about the night.”

One of the freshman said she was called “nigger” by a Trump supporter.

Mckinnzey Larkins, a biology student at GW, said she had never been called the word before. “You could tell they were Trump supporters because they had the ‘Make America Great Again’ hats,” said Larkin.

“They were also yelling things like ‘white supremacy.’ It was clear that night that people thought it was OK to be racist.”

Ross said her affinity is important to have on campus because of the low representation of black women at GW. “We represent 6 percent of the GW population which is a significant number if you think about GW being a (predominantly white institution),” Ross said. “But it's an insignificant number when you think about the community as a whole.” 

Ross said that it is important to have communal spaces where members of her affinity can interact and “not feel the need to change who they are and change their behavior based off of others.”

There are, however, students on GW’s campus who oppose the creation of safe spaces. 

Gabriella Morrone, a sophomore and a member of GW’s Young America’s Foundation, said she opposed the use of safe spaces around campus for minority groups. 

“It seems as though there is something to hide from or suggesting that there is violence on our campus by providing these sanctuary spaces that segregate others from the overall community,” said Morrone. 

Morrone said that the Casablanca and Leah Mcartney Affinity should not label themselves as safe spaces specifically created for an ethnic group, but she said that “it is their constitutional right to live privately together, despite the title that they give themselves.”

In regards to the amount of hate crimes occurring after the election, Morrone said she had no clue what the future will offer American citizens. “While I support unity through this presidential transition, I hope that other people do as well,” said Morrone. 

Ross still has fears that her affinity could be easily targeted by a hate crime because many students know that a group of black women live in her suite: “I work very hard for that not to be the case. I try to keep administrators well aware of the affinity and what goes on in here,” Ross said. “I’m sure there are people out there who want this out…but I don't think that will be the case anytime soon.”

The line between fashion and politics: Howard University debuts annual fashion show

Soukeyna Diouf, a sophomore at Howard University, walked down the illuminated runway, swinging her arms in a rhythm that matched the movement of her hips. She appeared not to be walking, but gliding. Diouf wore a white, netted, and transparent dress that touched her ankles; anyone would notice her undergarments, but her confidence beat her insecurities.

“I felt like if I could pull this off, I could pull anything off,” Diouf said. “The clothes are like

accessories to the human. (They don’t) make the human, the human make the clothes.”

Students and alumni of Howard University packed the darkened Cramton Auditorium in a rush to find the best seat to see various classmates like Diouf showcase unique fashion lines from visiting designers.

The fashion show was among the first events of Howard’s homecoming weekend and gave upand-coming designers a platform to present their work.

While most designers were local, some traveled to the District to be a part of Howard’s homecoming celebration. Carlos Antione, creative director of AntVione, traveled from Atlanta, Georgia where he developed a semi-formal dress line for women.

The fashion show explored more than aestheticism, however; it also touched on current social and political movements involving race. “Untitled to United” was the overall theme of the show as designers, students, and alumni came together to experience how fashion can be a catalyst for the transformation of the black experience in America.

Upon entering the auditorium, the line of people to be seated stretched from inside the door and passed two academic buildings. Over a thousand people filled the auditorium, most of whom were students and younger alumni dressed as if they were about to walk down the runway themselves.

“The fashion climate here is to do the most for every event,” said Keenah Mays, a sophomore. “People always gotta dress up for every little thing. Even for a 10 a.m. bio class.”

The show had four major parts that characterized social movements: innocence, discrimination, rage, and solidarity. Each phase showed a selection from the 16 designers in the show. The designs were unique, but many overlapped in form. Army apparel became constant towards the end of the second part of the show, which was discrimination, and throughout the third part which was rage.

Bradley Douglas Jordan, a designer known for creating contour masks, dressed his models in mostly black apparel. Some wore rhinestone-embellished masks modeled after the world renowned designer’s, Maison Margiela. “I took (his) and did my own take on it,” Jordan said.

One of Jordan’s models was also wearing a choker necklace made to hold red bullets while another model was wearing a turtle shell shaped armor. “I am very influenced by social events happening,” Jordan said. “It’s always in the news and I want to shed some light on that.”

Antoine did not intend on showing pieces that reflected current social or political movements in the show but said he would in the future. “There is an artistic way to get what you have to say done,” Antoine said. “Beyonce does it, Rihanna does it, we all do it.”

An interlude occurred between the second and third parts of the show. Three ballerinas came out from behind the white curtain, and danced to a Beyonce song that contained the lyrics: “Freedom, Freedom, I can't move, freedom cut me loose.” After a series of jumps and stomps, the dancers held up signs with the phrase, “Black lives matter.” The audience exploded with praise.

The grand finale was a part of the fourth phase: solidarity. Howard University’s choir appeared on opposite sides of the runway. The lights brightened and the mood of the event changed from hardship, to peace. The choir members wore all white and the sound of an organ filled the auditorium along with voices that sung, “We’re on an ultralight beam, this is a God’s dream.”

A model showcasing the line, Lillie Designs, appeared from behind the white curtain in a white embroidered gown that hugged her curves. By the enhanced gasps of the crowd, this dress was a showstopper. The bottom half of the gown expanded into a long ruffled train from her knee, causing the model to take small steps.

“I loved the dress so much,” said Mays. “It looked hard to walk in though, but still really different and pretty.”

All of the designers’ clothes illustrated both the different phases of the show and essentially the black liberation movement, bringing the tone from innocence to experience, and from frustration to triumph.

“The finale gave the fashion show, I guess, a hopeful tone for the future” Mays said. “The choir really sold it with their song choice along with the white dresses worn by black models. It was refreshing.