Editor’s note: This article contains an embedded Facebook post some readers might find offensive.
The University of Missouri’s SGA president recently became the subject of national attention after he responded to a racist incident with a Facebook status.
Payton Head, Missouri’s openly gay, African-American SGA president, said he was walking through campus when a group of men in a pickup truck repeatedly yelled racial slurs at him.
Head posted the following response on his Facebook:
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE: I just want to say how extremely hurt and disappointed I am. Last night as I walking...
Posted by Payton Head on Saturday, September 12, 2015
Walker Byrd, Auburn’s SGA president, met Head this summer at the National Campus Leadership Summit.
Byrd said he was disappointed when he read Head’s Facebook post.
“It’s tough when you see something like that happen to a peer,” Byrd said. “Payton Head is somebody I think very highly of. He’s done an incredible job at Missouri. For him to have the courage to be vulnerable like that, in such a public forum, is a testament to him and his leadership.”
Byrd said he hopes a similar incident never happens at Auburn, but he would be naive to think it couldn’t.
“I think (diversity) is something Auburn could work on and I think it’s something the student body could do a better job of embracing,” Byrd said. “When you come to college, you kind of find your niche or your bubble, and we probably don’t always do a great job of pushing that bubble.”
When students engage with people different from themselves, they are preparing for life after college, Byrd said.
“Sometimes we don’t interact with people who don’t look like you, think like you, talk like you or believe like you,” Byrd said. “But if you’re going to be an effective, efficient member of society after you graduate, you need to have those experiences at Auburn. More than likely, in whatever field you go into, you’re going to work with a wide array of people.”
Max Zinner, Spectrum president, said Byrd has made himself available to Spectrum, formerly called the Auburn Gay and Lesbian Association.
“I don’t know everything he believes, but he really seems to be making an effort,” Zinner said. “He has talked about how diversity is one of the main goals of the University. In my mind, he seems to be at least somewhat dedicated to that.”
Zinner said the University has come a long way since the club was formed 25 years ago.
“The Auburn Gay and Lesbian Association had to fight just to be a group,” Zinner said. “Now, SGA members are happy to come talk to Spectrum. We’ve had the president of the University come speak to our group. As a whole, I think there’s still some way to go, but the University climate has changed so much.”
Erica Rutledge, Black Student Union president, said she applauds Byrd for standing up for Missouri’s president.
Rutledge said Auburn still has a long way to go before she can call it a completely inclusive campus, but there is a simple way for students to promote diversity everyday.
“The first step is talking to people in your classes,” Rutledge said. “We are put on this campus with so many different people. Take the opportunity to get to know somebody who is different from you.”
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