AP: New OU Diversity VP Faced Discrimination Himself
Oklahoma diversity chief says he faced discrimination there
By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, AP
TULSA — The University of Oklahoma’s new chief of diversity programs says he knows why he’s the right fit for the job after a racist video roiled the school last month: He experienced discrimination when he was a student at the Norman campus in the 1990s.
As a black Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity member running for student body vice president, Jabar Shumate remembers the fliers with his picture on them tacked up around campus: “Do you want this person living in your house? Vote the other ticket.”
The fliers backfired. Shumate went on to win that campaign and take the student body presidency the next year.
“There were white students in the Greek community and black students and international students that put me in that office,” the 39-year-old former state senator told The Associated Press in an interview this week. “I built that coalition. (It showed) we’re a lot larger and stronger than a few bad characters who were really just uninformed.”