Clarke Johnson devotes herself to antiracist efforts at SU

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Before senior Clarke Johnson committed to Syracuse University, a senior at the time told her to research the Theta Tau incident so that she would be mentally prepared to be a Black student at SU. Then in November of Johnson’s first semester, SU’s handling of a series of racist, antisemitic and homophobic incidents led to #NotAgainSU protests over the rest of the academic year.

This year’s seniors are the last undergraduate class that was on campus for #NotAgainSU. Johnson, however, isn’t leaving. She hopes to continue to educate the student population on the events of #NotAgainSU when she returns next semester as a graduate student by giving talks to freshmen through the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

“I have a feeling that when I leave, and when the rest of us leave, those of us who have experienced it, I do think it’s going to die out,” Johnson said. “It’s going to turn into a situation where it happens again, and again and again and again.”

If people don’t talk about it, it will only cause a cycle of hate crimes to continue at SU, she said. Johnson never got too comfortable in the rest of her time at SU. She spent the next three years building her confidence and trying to find a place that was her own.

“That was probably the most traumatic thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” Johnson said about #NotAgainSU. “Knowing that I’m going to be one of the last people who actually experienced it on this campus, that is so weird to me.”

The #NotAgainSU movement began with sit-ins at the Barnes Center at the Arch where students spoke, protested and awaited comments by Chancellor Kent Syverud.

The sit-ins became a sleep-in, and Johnson said she continued protesting alongside her peers. People went home in shifts to shower and eat. Professors excused absences, and it became the only thing that Johnson focused on.

“I felt as if I could make things happen or I could feel better if I was there to see the changes in action,” Johnson said.

At least 16 hate crimes were reported between Nov. 7 and Nov. 21, 2019. In one incident, a Black student that Johnson knew was racially targeted by members of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity.

“The night after the story had come out, I had to go to my dorm and grab … clothes or food,” Johnson said. “And I just remember feeling so scared. There was barely anybody on the quad, and I remember rushing past Carnegie steps and sprinting through the orange grove because I felt like somebody was behind me.”

Johnson was ready to transfer after her first semester because of the events of #NotAgainSU and the isolation she felt as a Black woman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“I had never been in a school like Whitman before, which was so competitive and nobody looked like me,” Johnson said. “So over winter break, it was a lot of coming to terms with #NotAgainSU and then also my time as a student.”

Six or seven of her friends left, but Johnson chose to stay. She dove into activities that could give her a network of support, finding groups specifically for Black women across campus like the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Johnson said being an Orientation Leader for Syracuse Welcome, activities for new students before classes start, helped her mental health.

Being a part of campus activities is part of the legacy she is leaving behind, and other students appreciate it as well. Sophomore orientation leader Katherine Keane said that she could rely on Johnson for support.

“Even as a new OL, I got to spend a lot of time with Clarke during welcome week, and that time was often just spent talking,” Keane said. “She is someone who is incredibly easy to feel safe around.”

Additionally, the #NotAgainSU protests sparked changes to create a space for Black students on campus now known as 119 Euclid.

Following the events of #NotAgainSU, SEM 100, a course for first-years following the Theta Tau incident that dealt with discrimination, became required. The class was changed to FYS 101 to include more discussions of SU’s history of discrimination, and Johnson became a peer leader for the class.

Johnson was always bothered by the way #NotAgainSU was taught in the class. The course uses a video that doesn’t tell the full story, she said. It doesn’t include how the university mistreated students by denying them food and the ability to use the restroom during the Crouse-Hinds Hall protests. Johnson didn’t say anything until her second time as a peer leader.

“I interrupted the class and I was like ‘I’m so sorry, but that video that they’re playing, it’s bullsh*t,’” Johnson said.

SU graduate student Troy Parks, who Johnson referred to as an older sister, described Johnson as someone who would try to help people.

“I definitely feel like if you’re an activist, you have to (become) a leader because #NotAgainSU, you could tell it was really draining to the Black community,” Parks said. “Her just offering her smile and her jokes and advice really helped some people out.”