Student Exhibit, “Faces of St. Lawrence” Highlights Importance of Representation

SLU’s Diversity and Inclusion Office opened a new exhibit highlighting the works of several artists of color in the Sullivan Student Center last week, signaling the beginnings of a new initiative centered around positive imaging for marginalized groups on campus. 

The exhibit opens just before the university’s “Diversity and Inclusion Week” and will remain until mid-April.

The new exhibit, titled Faces of St. Lawrence, features canvas paintings of powerful African American women by Nadirah Croft ‘21, as well as photographic pieces of diverse students on campus by Sosina Erkailo ‘19.

“I aim to be as powerful as the beautiful and bold black people that I photograph.” states Croft ’21, her words printed on a posted text panel. “When someone views my artwork, I want them to experience the awe-inspiring feeling I get when I see a proud black person.”

The display is the first of a number of planned projects focused on answering the lack of positive imaging and representation for marginalized groups on campus – an issue brought to the forefront by Ndirangu Warangugu Jr ‘18 and his article St. Lawrence University is My Home… Where Are My Family Pictures?

The article, published in the Spring of 2018, highlighted the struggle students of marginalized groups face in calling St. Lawrence University home without adequate, positive representations of black and brown bodies in images around campus. 

Shortly after, The 2018 Campus Climate Survey highlighted significant gaps between St. Lawrence’s levels of inclusivity in regards to political affiliation, sexual orientation and race and ethnicity.

It became clear that something needed to be done.

“If we’re going to make genuine strides to improve that status of inclusion at St. Lawrence, there is no doubt that imagery is a critical part of the equation,” said Kimberly Flint-Hamilton, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion since January of 2017. “My hope is that students see this exhibit and understand that this is an amazing thing – that it inspires them to want to see more and to buy in to the process of being a more inclusive space.”

“I think it’s a start,” said Kaleb Davis ‘22, executive board member of Men In Color. “It allows other students who aren’t used to seeing those images on that type of platform, and it also allows for more diverse thought on why representations of POC on campus are scarce.”

With some emphasizing the exhibit’s importance as a first step in building a more inclusive campus culture, several other SLU students are skeptical if the university is doing enough to mend the bruised relationship between students of color and university initiatives.

“[The exhibit] was long overdue,” said Nina Haynie ‘22, also an executive board member of Carefree. “As long as this a genuine attempt to reach out to the POC community, and not an exhibit they put up to just check off a ‘to-do list for Black History Month,’ then I’ll believe that we are closer to creating a more diverse and inclusive campus.”

“It is not enough – It’s a temporary exhibit that will be replaced by something else in a few weeks.” said Brittanie Gordon ‘21, executive board member of Carefree Black Girls. “The fact that [the exhibit] is such a huge thing, to see black art and black people featured in the student center, just shows how problematic things are.”

With Diversity and Inclusion Week beginning March 1, there remains hope that the exhibit’s central location can help spur meaningful and lasting inclusion efforts.

“Exposure is what creates awareness and sparks change.” said Abigail Yosef ‘22, President of Carefree. “There are definitely more efforts that students and faculty need to take – We are super proud of the artists and are happy that St. Lawrence’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion decided to step up and make this happen.”

Faces of St. Lawrence is located directly across from the Winston Room.

Correction: This article originally included a misquote. The quote in paragraph four was originally credited to Sosina Erkailo ‘19. The article has since been updated.