Two candidates vie for Black Affairs Council coordinator

Both candidates for Black Affairs Council coordinator have the same issues in mind, but they disagree on whether the council needs to work on increasing its productivity.

Latisha Emery, a sophomore from Chicago studying history education, is running against current BAC coordinator Kevin Winstead. The candidates publicly debated Friday, and voting will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Center in front of the escalators by the University Bookstore.

"I have worked closely with BAC all year, and I felt it wasn't as productive as it could be," Emery said.

Winstead, a sophomore from Chicago studying marketing and public relations, presided over the organization all year and would be responsible for any lapse in productivity.

However, Winstead did not agree with his opponent that last year was unproductive.

"I heard my opponent say we need to reestablish the foundation of BAC, and it's kind of funny because that's what we did this year," Winstead said.

Black Affairs Council is an umbrella organization for 32 black Registered Student Organizations on campus. The group is given funding by the Undergraduate Student Government, which is given out to its constituency when requested. The group has failed to give them the help they need, Emery said.

"It seems to me that everyone has sort of kind of forgot the point of BAC," Emery said. "BAC was established to help all other black RSOs on campus."

The organization also needs to work closer with the black faculty on campus, she said.

BAC has already done both of those things, Winstead said. As coordinator, he said he has worked with Phi Beta Sigma, a predominantly black fraternity, and Underground Arts, a student organization promoting interest in hip-hop culture. The group worked with faculty to set up a student-versus-teacher basketball game in November that filled Pulliam Gym. "It's not that I want to push myself on other organizations," Winstead said. "I go to them and ask one question, 'How can we help?'"

In the past, BAC had a larger presence on campus, but in recent years, it hasn't been prominent, Emery said, and she wants to look back at the group's history and find out what they can do to return BAC to where it once was.

The group was plagued with poor leadership in the past, but last year it straightened out its problems, Winstead said. In the last year, its budget was increased from $17,000 to $34,000, it set up a Web site, and it was appointed to the College of Liberal Arts, judicial review, Student Center and local liquor advisory boards, Winstead said.

"Being the current coordinator for Black American Studies, I have re-established our foundation," Winstead said. "I have better networking with faculty than anyone in the organization."

Emery has worked with the NAACP, Habitat for Humanity and Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Amanda Betts, the assistant coordinator on her ticket, has sat on the USG senate. Winstead and his running mate, Lionel Grant, both primarily have been involved with BAC. The candidates disagreed over if it was better to spread yourself over several organizations or concentrate exclusively on one.

Aside from those disagreements, the candidates had similar views on the other things that need focus. Right now, 13.7 percent of students, 5 percent of faculty and 2 percent of tenured faculty at the University are black. BAC needs to increase retention of black students and bring more black faculty to campus, both candidates said.

"Another issue is Southern at 150, making sure Wendler comes through with his promises and keeps African Americans in mind when he implements that program," Winstead said.

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Winstead and Emery both have minors in Black American Studies and want to make sure the program becomes a major.

Friday's debate saw the candidates discuss issues facing black students from being uncomfortable as a minority to bring speakers about AIDS awareness to campus. USG senator Tremaine White said he was pleased with how things turned out.

"I honestly believe regardless of who wins, BAC is in good hands based on what I saw here tonight," White said.