The Cross-Cultural Center (CCC) hosted the first ever black student, faculty and staff mixer Feb. 10 as part of the Black History Month events.

The event was planned by Matt Owens, a senior and lead Cross-Cultural Center assistant.

“Everyone knows there’s few black people here,” Owens said. “I felt it was a good idea to get everybody in one place to see each other and get familiar and know these are people that you go to school with and people that you work with, that you might not even know you are at the same school with.”

Around 50 people attended the event, which included students, faculty and staff from all disciplines. The evening consisted of meeting people and everyone getting to know each other.

“It’s a good way to get involved,” Owens said. “Even within the first few minutes of this (mixer) there were a lot of people that were like ‘Oh, hey I’ve never seen them before or I’ve never met them.”

Owens, who has been involved in the planning of Black History Month celebrations for this month and has been planning the mixer since October 2019, saw the mixer as an “absolutely necessary” event to have. Reverend Marvin Owens Jr., Senior Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Economic Department and Matt Owens’ father, was the keynote speaker at the event. Reverend Owens opened up the event by speaking about the incident that happened Feb. 4 involving Dayton Cole Kingery, who used racist and homophobic slurs in classroom and was subsequently arrested.

“The reality is that these feelings, understandings, and perspectives exist not only in Chapman but around the country,” Reverend Owens said. “And what’s happening now is that there is a culture that has been created where folks feel they have a license to say whatever they want to say and do whatever they want to do.”

He then spoke to attendees of what can be done to change things at Chapman.

“Social change happens only when there’s tension. Let’s not fall back into the usual responses of let’s march or public protest. Those things are good, but not enough. Chapman University is an economic engine,” Reverend Owens said. “If there’s enough money to pour millions and millions of dollars into the university in terms of buildings, programs and classes, then why is still only two percent of the student population African American? That tells you something about the economic priority of the institution.” Students must first get past the anger and frustration of the video and mobilize, to get active, and do something about the situation, Reverend Owens said.

“As we look at the next steps they (Chapman) are going to look at this organization and other organizations who represent people of color here on campus, to be able to suggest and recommend actions that need to be taken and they’re going to want to hear from us,” Reverend Owens said. “What we have to do is talk honestly about what’s happening. There can’t be room for us to allow them to make us feel like we’re happy to be in the discussion and were not telling the whole truth.”

Reverend Owens invited students to come together and raise questions that haven’t been raised. Following the speech, there was a Q&A session. A professor from the Fowler School of Law asked a question of what professors can do to support their students.

“The problem is that once they get here, what’s the support around those students to make sure they succeed? Most universities will say ‘We provide the education it’s not our job to provide that support,’” Reverend Owens said. “The questions the law school should be asking, and other parts of university, what can we do to support students once they get here to make sure they succeed.”