How are State College area elected officials working toward racial equity? See some of their ideas

Elected and Penn State student leaders of color from around the Centre Region came together this week to share what their communities are doing for diversity, equity and inclusion, and to hopefully make lasting connections for a deeper impact.

Wednesday was the commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where more than 200,000 people advocated for the civil and economic rights of Black people. It was also where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Gary Abdullah, a member of the State College Racial Equity Advisory Commission, said what started the March on Washington was six different civil rights leaders and activists realizing they were all working toward the same goal, but from different directions, and coming together.

“The original March of 1963 brought together the leading social justice and civil rights groups of the day to address those immediate needs: jobs and freedom. Each of the Big Six spoke from their unique perspective about what the challenges were and how they would be addressing it. It almost did not happen. Differences nearly derailed the huge undertaking, but ultimately it changed how the nation looked at civil rights and the need for social justice. This event, hopefully, will do something similar for the Centre Region,” Abdullah said.

He said he heard from University Park Undergraduate Association Vice President Rasha Elwakil, who told him she’s been part of a very active social justice group but they had not been invited or able to interact with the Racial Equity Advisory Commission or other agencies within the community.

“In other words, we were doing the same thing that they were doing in 1963,” he said. “...So as the rhythm of a new academic year ramps up, we want to provide local representatives with a forum to proclaim their causes and tactics.”

Over the course of two hours, attendees heard from local leaders about changes they have made and plan to make over the next year or so. Topics ranged from language access in the court system to zoning changes to food pantry access.

The State College borough is working to rewrite its zoning ordinance, Council Member Gopal Balachandran said, which gets to the core of many things involving jobs and economic justice.

“I know it sounds really boring, right? Talking about lot sizes and setbacks. I can tell you right now that it’s really gratifying to see how our borough and our discussions at least, are really going to be moving toward … what I think of as very progressive and equitable legislation involving increasing the housing stock, increasing the supply of housing, which is going to have an impact on what kind of housing is actually available in the borough, which will then hopefully enable someone who is working in the school district or working for minimum wage at a McDonald’s to be able to afford and live in the borough,” Balachandran said.

With that, Patton Township Supervisors Pam Robb and Sultan Magruder talked about drafting attainable housing regulations so the people who work in Patton Township can afford to live there, too.

“We have to start really addressing affordable housing,” Robb said. “‘Affordable housing’ has been a stigma ... So say ‘attainable’ for those people who work at Walmart, for our fire (companies), for our police officers, for our teachers — our teachers are driving two hours away just to come here to teach.”

It’s an issue seen across the Centre Region. College Township Supervisor Tracey Mariner said with attainable housing, it can be a place where people from all socioeconomic backgrounds can live. She said she and her husband both work and make decent money, but it’s still difficult for them find a place to live and are currently renting.

She’d like to work on bringing a tenants bill of rights to College Township, similar to what the State College borough passed .

Beyond the municipal government level, District Judge Donald Hahn, who was the first person of color to serve as mayor of S tate College, spoke about his work to bring greater language access and diversity into the court system.

“Just like we have succeeded in bringing more diversity into our elected bodies, municipal bodies, I think that it is absolutely important that we bring it more into the administrative justice system, and that is not only the court systems. It’s also attorneys. We need more attorneys of color, … we need more judges of color. And quite frankly, we need more police officers of color,” Hahn said.

From campus, Juan-Rodrigo Solares, president of the Lion’s Pantry , said they’re working to increase access to the student food pantry. Because it can be quite the hike for some students to get to the Lion’s Pantry, they’re funding a program to provide free transportation to and from the pantry, as well as creating parking vouchers for students who have cars.

Other student leaders spoke of the importance of registering Penn State students to vote and encouraging them to use their voices to make a difference.

Ending the event, Abdullah encouraged everyone to network and share ideas to start moving forward with because something that may seem small could make a large difference for someone living in the Centre Region.

“I’ve been talking to a couple people here about partnering on the fact that Christmas is coming, and we can do Black Christmas carols,” he said. “I mean, it is not an earth shattering thing, but it is an element that will make Happy Valley, State College more amenable and more like home to somebody who lives here. That’s the process of racial equity.”