Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Charisse Bush said the news that Wright State University is shutting down its five cultural identity centers because of a new state anti-DEI law brought tears to her eyes.
Bush is president of WSU’s Association of Black Business Students, secretary of WSU’s Black Women Striving Forward and event coordinator of WSU’s Black Men on the Move.
“June 26, when I saw and knew and realized that it was going to be all effective June 27, I was crying,” Bush said. “I didn’t want to talk to anybody that day, the next day, and probably even that next day. I really didn’t want to do too much communicating or reaching out because I was so sad.”
WSU trustees recently announced the closure of the Asian and Native American Center, the Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center, the Latino Center, the LGBTQA Center, and the Women’s Center. They say the move is in response to Senate Bill 1, which went into effect June 27 and bans diversity, equity and inclusion measures on Ohio higher education campuses.
As a member of three organizations herself, Bush said the news has left her stressed when thinking about the future. She recounts how places like the Bolinga Center have been around ever since her father went to Wright State and that they’re irreplaceable for students as spaces to network, find help and feel safe.
“We need (cultural and identity centers) because people need those,” Bush said. “Students need those. It’s not a want. It’s a need.”
