Street named for Austin Layne Jr. Dedication for mortuary director attended by clergy, dignitaries
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited MAY 8 – 14, 2014
Vol. 85 No. 5 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Black students make demands of SLU Campus hate crimes spur call for greater minority recruitment and transparency Brittany Kendrick of Saint Louis University’s Black Student Alliance spoke at a press conference on Tuesday night, along with Kimberly Turner and Jonathan Pulphus of the alliance.
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Black students at Saint Louis University demanded on Tuesday that administrators respond to the campus’ recent hate crimes by increasing recruiting efforts of black students and faculty, as well as making curricula more inclusive. On Saturday night, someone accessed the computer connected to a projector in the Busch Student Center at SLU and changed the text on the large screen to read, “Nazis rule f*** niggers and fags.” The week before, students discovered a swastika arranged
n “Students of African descent at Saint Louis University have been repeatedly subject to acts of racism, and in turn, receive idle resolutions.” – Christopher S. Walker Jr.
out of tealight candles outside the Marguerite Hall dorm. SLU’s hate messages follow behind a recent shooting at two Jewish community centers in Kansas City, where three people
were shot and killed allegedly by a former Ku Klux Klan leader. The Black Student Alliance held a press conference on Tuesday night to denounce the acts and request public support for its “list of demands” to administrators. “These actions do not reflect Saint Louis University’s hope for inclusiveness, but instead gives light to the reality that many students of African descent face while at Saint Louis University,” said Christopher S. Walker Jr., president of the alliance. “Students of African descent at Saint Louis University have been repeatedly
See SLU, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
On Friday students from Roosevelt High School’s shop program helped to unload pews from Temple Israel in Creve Coeur donated to the school with the assistance of Home Works, a teacher home visit initiative. Next semester, the students will carpenter the pews into desks with bookshelves to be given to the families of SLPS children who need them.
Naming the unknown soldiers Genealogy society recognizes ‘Colored Infantry’ at Jefferson Barracks By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American A bronze plaque will be erected at the burial site of the 56th United States Colored Infantry at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Unlike the monument that currently stands identifying the soldiers as “unknown,” the plaque will list the names of all 118 soldiers buried in the mass grave. The regiment of n “Y’all didn’t former slaves served know their in the Union Army names. We’re during the Civil War. going to read Most died of cholera in August 1866. their names The recognition is every time so the result of lengthy they’re not lobbying by the St. Louis African forgotten.” American History and Genealogy Society. – Sarah Cato When society member Sarah Cato visits Jefferson Barracks, she said, she is bothered by a particular sight. “I see the pointed headstones that distinguish Confederate dead from Union dead,” Cato said. “Then I go to the mass grave where the men of the 56th are buried, and I see tombstones that say ‘Unknown’ with no recognition of these men at all.” It was Alfred Katzenberger with the Jefferson Barracks Chapel Association who informed the society of the situation last March. Cato said she and other members were appalled. Soon after, they formed a research committee to investigate the matter. Members sent letters to U.S.
See SOLDIERS, A6
Photo by Wiley Price
From pews to desks Home Works facilitates temple’s donation to SLPS By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Kenyun Robinson, 16, a sophomore at Roosevelt High School in the St. Louis Public Schools, has a desk and bookshelves at home. But he knows that many students do not, and that is why he was eager to work on a project that the Home Works organization brought to his school on Friday. Home Works, a teacher home visit program that works with SLPS, facilitated the delivery of a truckload of pews that were donated to Roosevelt’s shop program by Temple Israel in Creve Coeur, which also paid the movers.
n “This will help younger children in St. Louis Public Schools. If we supply desks and bookshelves, it will increase their reading skills.” – Kenyun Robinson
Robinson and the school’s other shop students, under the direction of teacher Bart Adastra, will carpenter the pews into desks with bookshelves. Starting next term, Adastra said, students
will work in teams to turn the pews, which vary in length from 10 to 30 feet, into what he estimates will be 30 new desks with bookshelves. They will be donated to elementary school students working with the Home Works program that lack desks and bookshelves at home. The Roosevelt students were well aware of the purpose of the project, as Karen Kalish of Home Works, who came up with the idea and organized the donation, met with them and explained the project in detail. “That’s why it’s so important and such a
See PEWS, A6