In response to last year’s racial incidents on campus, Saint Louis University was faced with calls for change and justice. One semester later, that feeling still lingers.

“We served as a support and presence for the students directly involved in and impacted by these events,” LaTanya Buck, Program Manager of the Cross Cultural Center, said.

According to Buck, the Hate Crime and Biased Related Incident Protocol has been written in response to these events.

“We’re making strides,” Buck said. “I did see students come together after the events. I don’t want students to forget about it because it’s not as hot of a topic as it was last spring.”

This year, the Cross Cultural Center plans to hold monthly panels and discussions and to increase collaborations with the Career Center and the Office of Student Development. According to Buck, the center has created a new position that will conduct research and develop retention and support programs for minority students. The new position will also oversee programming of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship.

The Cross Cultural Center was also criticized last year, as students felt it promoted separation of the SLU community.

“Are we separating people with the intent of creating diversity? The Cross Cultural Center doesn’t have a lot of white students,” Michael Harriss, former Student Government Association President, said last year. “Maybe it’s because of the presence of all the multicultural organizations there, but are we building a home for diversity or are we still keeping groups separate unintentionally?”

“It’s my role to create a comfortable and safe place for all students, but I think it is up to the students to look into themselves and ask why they’re not comfortable walking into the Cross Cultural Center,” said Buck in response to that criticism  Reactions to last year’s events did not just come from the administrative and departmental levels. Student responses were also clear.

“As people, we came together to say ‘Hey, this is not okay,’” said Sarah Holland, a representative of the Students for Social Justice.

Students for Social Justice, an open forum organization, was created in direct response to last year’s incidents and was responsible for the No Hate Rally, a demonstration in which students voiced their concerns abut diversity issues.

“Is racism and discrimination gone from SLU? Of course not,” Holland said. “Did we raise awareness that students are invested in changing that? Yes.”

Although not much has been heard from the Students for Social Justice this semester, Holland assures it is a good sign.

“There’s not been an action alert,” Holland said. “That being said, the core group of students involved [are] all leaders in student groups. They’re active in making sure the idea of justice is not dropped at SLU.”

There is another outlet present on-campus regarding the theme of justice and rights: the American Civil Liberties Union. According to Lindsay Dencker, an academic adviser in the Major Exploration Office and co-founder of SLU’s ACLU chapter, the group was in the works before the incidents that occurred last spring.

“[The ACLU] was another forum for students’ voices to be heard,” said Dencker. “It seemed like there should be a chapter in a school with an emphasis on social justice.”

Holland, also a representative of the ACLU chapter, said the group is currently focusing on membership, creating ties to SLU’s School of Law and building a relationship with the Missouri ACLU.