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Friday, March 29, 2024
Student Government SG Generic
Student Government SG Generic

Growing up in Tampa, Vincent Adejumo was used to seeing drugs.

With trap houses on almost every corner, he said some people thought African Americans allow for negative environments to happen, but that isn’t true. Now a UF African-American studies professor, he spoke to a crowd of about 25 people Thursday about how there remains a lack of understanding about diversity.

During Student Government’s first Gators Talk, a TED-style speaking event, two professors and six students spoke about their experiences with multiculturalism. For an hour and a half, they talked about aspects of their identities from being a child of immigrants, having undocumented family members, going through times of depression and stigmas in the Greek community.

For Adejumo, he sees a lack of understanding in Gainesville. He pointed out how only a couple people in the room knew about Virgil Hawkins, who was rejected from UF’s law school in 1949 because he was African-American.

“We go to a school that preaches that it wants to be about diversity and inclusion, and we don’t even know who Virgil Hawkins is,” he said. “How can that be?”

Evelyn Veras, SG’s multicultural affairs cabinet director, went into the event without hearing any of the speeches first. She wanted to have the same experience as the audience, she said.

And Adejumo’s talk, “The Trap House,” didn’t hold back.

“It was just the truth,” she said.

Veras said her team came up with the idea in January and worked to put it together ever since. She wants SG to highlight the Student Body’s diversity and hopes the talk encourages students to discuss and embrace that diversity.

“I hope for the future that it continues and improves,” the 20-year-old UF health education and behavior junior said.

Another professor, Cecilia Suarez, told students in Pugh Hall they can overcome internal struggles.

The professor in UF’s agricultural education and communication department spoke about her issues learning to express her emotions until she started seeing a counselor at 30 years old.

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Jocelisse Morales, a UF visual art studies junior, said hearing Suarez’s speech made her feel better about her own struggles.

“I’m actually going through a hard time now in my personal life,” the 20-year-old said. “I really needed to hear that.”

Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry

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