Simone Chalabi
Template:TOCnestleft Simone Chalabi lives in Burleson, Texas.
Education
- Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington
- Went to Burleson Centennial High School
Changing history
February 2021. Like many older American schools, some say UTA has a history of alleged racist behaviors and traditions.
Throughout recent semesters, UTA community members have called for the acknowledgement of racism and incorporation of anti-racist acts on campus. Student organizations like the UTA Progressive Student Union have pushed university administration to change the names of E.H. Hereford University Center and Davis Hall in light of racism allegations.
Simone Chalabi, university studies sophomore and UTA Progressive Student Union member, said that if a school uses diversity as a selling point, their actions should reflect that standpoint.
“Diversity” has become a buzzword, and many institutions use students of color in pictures and advertisements to prove their diversity, said Pamela Hill, African American studies adjunct professor. But diversity does not necessarily equal inclusion.
Mark Napieralski, Progressive Student Union president, proposed a resolution, entitled “Renaming the University Center,” to the Academic Affairs committee in February 2018. The resolution cited alleged racism by former university president Ernest Hereford, such as “creation of an environment where mock-slave auctions were an authorized school-sanctioned event” and claims that Hereford pushed for the college to adopt the Confederate flag as the school’s flag in 1952.
According to previous Shorthorn reporting, Napieralski later attended Student Senate’s open forum in September 2018, calling on senators to sponsor the legislation. He also created a petition for students to sign in support of the removals.
Rick Majumdar, aerospace engineering graduate student and Progressive Student Union vice chairperson, said he first heard about the push to change the building names in late 2019, but was aware of students wanting to remove Hereford’s bust from the UC as early as 2018.
Since UTA is the UT System school with the largest number of Black and brown students, looking into the history of UTA was appalling and shocking, Majumdar said.[1]