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Still Pressing On
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by Gregory A. Dear, Jr. ‘10
Hampden-Sydney College has a variety of great clubs, teams, and organizations, but one of the most important organizations on
the H-SC campus is the Minority Student Union. The Minority Student Union (also known as MSU),
which is open to all students, not only those of color, is essential to Hampden-Sydney
because it provides an important, and sometime unique, perspective for students who join and for all
those who attend programs sponsored by the MSU. Its network of
alumni
provides the strength and wisdom that the members of the Minority Student
Union need to pursue their goals and courageously face the difficulties of college life.
 Despite up and downs over the years, the MSU continues to thrive on the Hampden-Sydney campus and
to host events that are very insightful. On February 4th, the Minority Student Union hosted,
for Black History Month, Janks Morton and his film, “What Black Men Think.”
In the film, Mr. Morton provides statistical evidence that contradicts false
information on African Americans and encourages young African Americans to
understand better their own culture. The program caused students to reconsider the "facts" about African Americans that
have gained hold in the popular mind.
 On February 19, as another event during Black History Month,
the Minority Student Union sponsored the award-winning play, The Meeting, by Jeff Stetson. The play depicts a fictional meeting between
Malcolm X and the Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and what might have passed between the advocate of Black Nationalism and self-defense and the proponent of
non-violence. The play is set on Valentine’s Day 1965, a week before the Black Muslim
leader is assassinated. With his home recently bombed, Malcolm is holed up on the 7th floor of a Harlem
hotel. Dr. King visits him, providing words of
“comfort.” Both men lead and oppose threatening forces filled with promise,
and in taut, subtle, and sometimes fiery language, the
two become engaged by polarities of vision.
The 2008 Black Alumni Reunion was held April 4, 5, and 6. This
event brings Black graduates
back to their alma mater to share their experience and knowledge with the current
minority students on campus. The theme of the event this year was
“Building a Road to Success.” That is exactly what the weekend
did. It helped build a road to success for those who heard the positive
messages conveyed at the alumni reunion. One of the messages delivered
during the workshops was that the minority student is as important to the
strength and richness of campus life as any other student. That message is vital because it motivates minority students to be the best
that they can be in everything they do.
The experience that mesmerized everyone at the event was the talk by Alphonso
O’Neil-White '72. Mr. O'Neil-White (seated, center above) was the first
African-American to enroll at Hampden-Sydney College and, consequently, the
College's first African-American graduate. Mr. O'Neil-White is now the
President and CEO of HealthNow New York, Inc. a $2.1 billion health insurance
and benefits solutions company.
According to Mr. O'Neil-White, "I think I was able to thrive at Hampden-Sydney because the sense
of community is a very real one...allowing me to rely on others to find the reflection of myself...You will
never see yourself more clearly than...if you allow yourself to be in a community with others who are very different from you,
very unlike you. There is no better way to see a true reflection of who you
really are."
"I came here as a change agent, I felt that way and I think the College felt that way, and in
the process I
was changed." Referring to Hampden-Sydney alumni and students, Mr. O'Neil White said,
"We have the opportunities and strength to be change leaders; each of us must decide what to work for,
and we must do it with the strength of character we learned [at
Hampden-Sydney]...You must change your personal reality to include the attributes you wish to see in the world...
[if] you want to create a more tolerant, just, respectful, and inclusive world, you must become the
embodiment of those things yourself."
The Minority Student Union is more than a club
for the mutual support of its members. The programs and activities of the MSU
are an important source of information and foster a greater appreciation of
diversity among all students at Hampden-Sydney College. The Minority Student
Union will continue to have an impact on the College and will continue to press on
to make its contribution to the formation of good men and good citizens.
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