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22Columbia studentsBy Gretchen RACHEL BlickensderferThere was barely a single open seat remainingin the screening room of Columbia CollegeChicago’s downtown campus. On Feb. 26, collegepresident Kwang-Wu Kim and film/videodepartment chair Dr. Bruce Sheridan were partof an audience for one of two screenings ofBlack Sheep—a documentary the school’sBlack Film Society made that aimed to send aclear message to Sheridan, Kim and Columbia’sadministration: When it comes to the Black andminority students who dream of becoming thenext generation of filmmakers, the school’s filmdepartment needs to do better.The 30-minute documentary seemed to stunthe audience with its powerful mix of a roundtablediscussion and interviews with currentand former Black students and faculty members—includingVaun Monroe, one of the onlytwo Black teachers in the film program. It challengedthe department’s diversity in both itscurriculum and faculty.“Students of color are saying that they arenot seeing their experiences and themselvesrepresented on the screen,” said Columbia CollegeCinema Arts and Science Professor JenniferPeepas in the documentary. “And I thinkthat’s absolutely true, when you look at thefilms that we screen.”“There are certain filmmakers they [the filmdepartment] just don’t want to talk about,” ColumbiaAlum Jessica Estelle Huggins asserted.Mar. 5, 2014demand diversity in filmCULTURE CLUB“If a Black filmmaker comes up, it’s like TylerPerry or Spike Lee.”The other students featured in the documentaryall agreed. When it came to Columbia’sfilm department’s demonstration of the heightsa Black filmmaker could reach, it was Spike Leeor nothing.“They didn’t expose us to anything exceptSpike Lee,” one current sophomore shrugged.“And I missed the day that they screened that.”“Columbia College, there are more Black directorsthan Spike Lee!” echoed another.Even more disturbing, the students assertedthat they weren’t allowed to present theirown ideas during classroom projects. “I hadpitched a documentary about gang violencein Chicago,” senior Jade Ivy said. “I was toldthat my idea had not gotten picked. I got partneredwith a guy that was doing a documentaryabout ferrets.”Linda Garcia Merchant was a first-year MFAstudent in film and video at Columbia. Sheholds a B.S. with honors from Western IllinoisUniversity and has served as a member of numerousgroups in Chicago, including the LesbianLeadership Council of the Chicago Foundationfor Women. In 2006, she formed herown company that, by 2011, had produced fivedocumentaries.Merchant—who was given a fellowship toattend Columbia—was inexplicably asked toleave the program. “It made no sense to me,”she remembered. “My only response was, ‘but Iwant to teach.’ I really don’t want to believe,but I always wonder, that if I had come inhere in a different skin, in a different gender,I think that talent would have been cultivatedand would have been supported.”In summing up Black Sheep, Black Film SocietyPresident Raina McKinley said, “I wanted tobe sure that the voices of Black film studentsare given a chance to be heard. All too often,the voices of Black film students at Columbiaare overlooked and they get lost in the crowd.”“Columbia’s reputation as a diverse schoolis at stake here. It does not practice what itpreaches,” Black Film Society Vice PresidentDon Whisler stated.During a talk-back session after the film’sscreening, Kim said he appreciated the educationalimperative presented in the film: “Thisis not just about students or brown students oryellow students or purple students. It’s aboutasking the question ‘why in a school like ColumbiaCollege Chicago is this more than thestandard quota conversation that exists inhigher education all across the country?’ We’retalking about a merging culture in a world thatis changing. “Kim pledged that he would activate a morediverse model of education that would beginwith the hiring of new Provost Dr. Stanley T.Wearden, Ph.D.Kim announced the decision on the sameday as the screening of the film. Wearden iscurrently a dean at Kent State University, “aschool that is predominantly white,” Kim acknowledged.“[He’s] working very hard to bringin faculty of color, to expand definitions of diversity.I think there’s a lot of opportunity forhim here.”Kim told Windy City Times that he was notsurprised by the film, saying, “It’s always differentthough to see something that’s reallythought through and well put together as thiswas.” He added that he wants to respond tothe Black Film Society in a constructive way:“I want them to meet with our incoming Provostso that he understands how we’re thinkingabout the issues of diversity here.”Meanwhile, Sheridan claimed that whilehe was pleased to see Black Sheep, he didn’tbelieve it to be a film about the departmentor the college: “It was 25 minutes of peoplespeaking. It’s a film about what people think.These are things that any student would beconcerned about. “He asserted that the department always hadan open curriculum, saying, “There’s never beena rule in this college that students couldn’t askfor a curriculum. They just didn’t ask. So nowthey will. So that’s good.”Responding to the film’s assertions of a lackof diversity in a curriculum, Sheridan said thathe always tried to run classes that studentswanted, but ultimately blamed enrollment figures:“More often than not, the classes don’tWINDY CITY TIMESMembers of the Black Film Society at the screening. Photo by Gretchen Rachel Blickensderferrun because students don’t enroll.”He insisted that the department showcaseda lot more films than those of Spike Lee. “Idid a Q&A with Richard Roundtree,” he said.“In the classroom, we’re showing Van Peebles,Gordon Parks—but my point is that it’s easy tofall back on Spike Lee. All we do is look at thelearning outcomes. Will they learn from it?”Sheridan also insisted that Columbia alwayssponsors the Black Perspectives program of theChicago International Film Festival: “We askedfor the Africa emphasis and we give out ticketsto our students to get engaged in this festivaland a lot of students just don’t go.”“That’s just not true,” said Marcus Martin,the co-founder of the Black Film Society anda recent graduate of Columbia. “We’ve all attendedthe Black Perspectives annually withoutany notification from Bruce Sheridan. He invitedus once, last year, after we had told himwe wanted more diversity in the faculty.As an example, Martin cited a time whenBlack students in the department wanted toattend the American Black Film Festival. “Wesent [Sheridan] a proposal and didn’t hear anything,”Martin said. “It wasn’t until I had aconversation with the former President Carterthat I get an email the next day from Sheridan.”He said that Sheridan gave the money tosend three students to attend the festival:“I’m thinking the school is supporting us now,but when we came back, the rules had beenchanged. They said that students could no longerattend festivals because they have socialcontent and not just educational perspectives.”Martin said he believes that Columbia’s administrationis just playing a waiting game:“They’re hoping that once Black History Monthpasses, they’re not going to have hear anymore about this.”Powell’s fashionshow March 14at Block 37Fashion designer Borris Powell will unveilhis new accessories collection at his“Freedom” show on Friday, March 14, at8:30 p.m. at Block 37, 108 N. State St.In 2011, Powell won the Oscars DesignerChallenge with his “Black Swan” dress.He has since expanded to ready-to-wear,men’s custom suits and handbags.Powell’s fall/winter 2014 collection is“American”-inspired, with dark, rich fabricsand simple cuts with a focus on details,according to a press release.Tickets are $40-$100; see www.ticketpeak.com/freedomBjP.For more info onPowell, visit www.BorrisPowell.com.