今天的学生站在前人的肩膀上，为后来者铺平道路
In August 2020, CMU足球总教练特里梅因·杰克逊和他的队员们参观了大枢纽的阿普尔顿小学. CMU’s first Black head football coach and two of his players, quarterback Aaron Howard and running back Isaac Maestas, were invited by the school principal as special guests. The children welcomed Jackson and the players who talked about love, respect and effort. 这次活动是CMU和杰克逊通过从当地开始，在社区中建立团结和减少种族主义的持续努力的一个小小的反映.
Jackson’s message that day was tailored to be simple for an elementary age audience, but the recent experiences of Jackson and his team have been anything but simple.
霍华德和杰克逊在2020年登上了全国新闻，因为暴力画面占据了全国头条和社交媒体. During the week that followed the killing of George Floyd, 杰克逊和他的球员超越了暴力的画面，取而代之的是和平抗议的画面. 这种转变是发生在大枢纽市中心的一个偶然事件的结果，当时霍华德与大枢纽警察局局长道格·舒梅克握手. As other community members stormed out of a meeting, Jackson told his team to stay and have their voices heard. The decision lead the course of CMU’s efforts on addressing racial inequality.
According to Shoemaker, 霍华德明白他的行为的力量，这在他的部门和CMU之间架起了一座桥梁.
“The prudence of this young man was powerful,” said Shoemaker. 他对这些图像在面对代表其对立面的国家图片时所能做的事情的理解表明了杰克逊和CMU正在培养的领导力.”
那天的抗议活动产生了积极的结果，两人被邀请到阿普尔顿小学演讲, 并导致CMU校长蒂姆·福斯特成立了一个全校范围的特别工作组委员会，以减少校园里的种族主义和偏见. Called Turning the Corner on Racism, the committee is made up of students, faculty and staff who are collaborating on how to make things better.
While CMU is making noteworthy progress, 现在的有色人种学生知道，今天的进步在很大程度上是由于他们之前的黑人学生.
Looking back
上世纪90年代，凯·奥戴是梅萨县谷51学区为数不多的黑人学生之一. 当他上高中时，他是运动队中唯一的有色人种之一. 当他进入pp电子极速糖果时，他是校园里为数不多的黑人学生之一. For much of his life, Oday has felt like he lived on an “island of different.” Today, Oday是Grand Junction的一位商业领袖，他站在变革的前沿，作为CMU的多元化协调员，他花了很多时间支持有色人种学生. Oday was not the first to feel alone.
Prior to Oday, Jamaal McCoy attended CMU and played football. After graduating in 1999, 他喜欢在竞技场足球的短暂职业生涯，并利用他的教育在汽车行业建立了成功的职业生涯. While his career paid off, his experience on campus was mixed.
While at CMU, McCoy和其他人建立了一个名为非裔美国人大学联盟的组织。, known today at the Black Student Alliance. 该组织的成立是为了给麦考伊和其他黑人学生提供一个见面和讨论他们作为黑人学生经历的地方. 他们想出了互相支持的方法和招募其他少数民族学生的策略.
“AACA was all inclusive, 我们欢迎任何想参加的人，但该组织主要由布莱克组成, Latino and Pacific Islanders,” said McCoy. “While on campus I felt very supported by members of the faculty and staff of CMU. 管理人员平易近人，有几位教授对我的职业生涯和生活产生了深远的影响.”
For McCoy the experience of racism while attending CMU occurred while he was off campus.
麦考伊的一次种族歧视经历发生在他的一个队友面前，他承认自己从来没有黑人同学. After seeing how McCoy was treated because he was Black, his teammate “expressed regret and apologies not only that the incident occurred, but also for not realizing the extent to which racism did exist.”
By the time McCoy left CMU, 黑人学生人数只有100人，比1969年尼日利亚裔美国人托伊·摩西毕业时多得多.
When Moses attended CMU there were fewer than 15 Black students on campus. He was the only one born in Africa.
“As a foreign student, I did not have too many bad experiences, but I was subjected to a racial slur from a boy who was with his mother,” said Moses, who at the time lived less than a block from campus. 有一天，他和几个同学去附近的一家餐馆吃午饭. “A boy who was about seven years old pointed fingers at me and said, ‘Look Mom, n-----!’ His mother said ‘Hush, don’t say that.“我只是走开了，但我感到非常尴尬，我的同学们都很难过，也很同情我. I felt supported by them.”
For McCoy and Moses their faith was an important part of their experience on campus. On Sundays, Moses attended the Episcopal Church. He became close with the congregation and clergy, often accepting invitations to attend dinner at their homes.
“我很高兴看到球队取得了实际的进步，我认为杰克逊教练会做得很好,” said Moses. “Frankly speaking, as the world is saying, we must go from protest to policy. The present movement sparked by George Floyd’s death must ensure changes.”
After CMU, 摩西成为加州北部的公民领袖，担任旧金山东南社区委员会的执行董事，在那里他为改善福祉提供了机会和特殊服务, health, welfare and safety of residents of the city’s southeastern sector. 在此之前，他还担任the Rotary Club of San Francisco Bayview的2016-2017年度社长, 曾担任全国有色人种协进会旧金山分会的董事会成员，并在其他几个董事会任职, commissions and nonprofit organizations. Today he lives with his wife of 40 years in the Bay Area.
The future
Today, 奥戴和杰克逊教练都相信，他们站在像摩西这样的人的肩膀上，他们在种族不平等比今天更加公开和明显的时代就读于CMU. Oday指出，CMU董事会最近决定重新命名沃克球场，因为已故的沃克创建了地区三k党.
“These racially and culturally charged decisions, like renaming Walker Field, are complex and carry much weight,” said Oday. “CMU在没有暴力和仇恨的情况下取得了平等的重大胜利，我必须相信. King was smiling from above when that decision was made.”
尽管承认过去其他人为纠正种族不平等所做的贡献, both Jackson and Howard attribute their faith to helping them stay focused. For Howard, his faith informs his advocacy, and he connects with Jackson’s pillar of love philosophy, which is the foundation of the football program.
“Speaking to the children at the Appleton school, 和鞋匠酋长握手，争取尊重不是我一个人能做到的,” said Howard. “对我来说，这些选择被来自更深层次、更强大的地方的东西所强化. For me that’s God.”
For campus believers and non-believers alike, it is easy to see that the Turning the Corner on Racism effort is making a difference.