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As an RA on North Campus and an employee of Cornell Residential Programs (aka. RP for all of you Cornellians that are up on the lingo), I almost feel an obligation to write about this.

Recently, there’s been quite an uproar surrounding Ken Glover — the former Residence Hall Director (RHD) of Ujamaa on campus; after being there for much longer than anyone on RP’s staff, the department decided over the past year to reassign Mr. Glover — in essence, removing him from a job that he has held for about 20 years, to help out at another building.

Needless to say, it’s caused quite a hubbub: not just over the fact that Mr. Glover’s future is uncertain when he’s been a staple in RP and the Ithaca community for such a long time, but it has become more of an issue over the ramifications for the Cornell multicultural community. As a result, talks have currently been happening with the Student Assembly (SA) and Cornell administration over Resolution 22 — a plan which, at it’s core, is meant to reinstate Ken Glover into Ujamaa and shift some power back to the community.

Making the case: Ola Williams ’10, left, and Ebony Ray ’10 speak about the multicultural community at the S.A. yesterday.

So what’s the big deal about Ken Glover moving away from Ujamaa? Well, it’s definitely a complicated issue. A major concern for the multicultural and minority community is that this is the beginning of a larger chain of events to reduce the minority presence on campus, which may ultimately result in the complete abolishment of Ujamaa and other similar entities. The following quote can say it better than I can:

“I actually came to the S.A. earlier with this concern and this issue has actually grown [since then] and now it includes a lot of minority communities including the multicultural community and the LGBTQ community.” Ray continued, “I think that the ideology of Students for Ken Glover is the same ideology that’s behind the S.A. — that students should have a say in things that directly affect their lives.”

-Ebony Ray ‘10, Cornell Daily Sun

People are starting to think that this will just create a domino effect — one that they don’t want to see start in the first place. Other people don’t seem to think it’s any bigger of a deal than any other employee dispute, which is why debates have become so heated:

“It kind of sounds like the Student Assembly is just supporting what is going to happen anyway. I’ve been talking to a lot of people this week and a lot of people aren’t in agreement with you. I think a lot of people are making this an Ujamaa issue instead of a Ken Glover issue and if Ken Glover actually feels that he’s been wronged, then that’s an employee’s right issue.”

-Idris Akinpelu ’10, Hotel School representative, Cornell Daily Sun

Overall, the final vote on Resolution 22 ended up being 14-2-1, calling for a review of the decision with a step to move forward to Mr. Glover’s reinstatement. While I don’t really know where this story is going to go from here, it is very interesting to see how integral cultural and racial issues continue to be on campus.

I’m not sure if this is as serious as people are making it out to be. I’m not even sure that the Resolution was necessary in the first place. But it is nice to see that the student influence and political fervor is still a driving force that focuses everyone on improving the university as a whole.

And another reminder that Cornell will never be perfect.

(If you’re interested in reading more about this, check out the Cornell Daily Sun: http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/11/06/sa-votes-reinstate-ken-glover-ujamaa)