By Garret Van Wie

THE ROUNDUP

In the wake of a racial reckoning sweeping the nation, Brophy Student Council is in the final stages of releasing the first of a series of films addressing marginalized groups’ experiences on campus.

Jenkins said he chose to manage this project in part to find his place on campus.

The film series will start off only focusing on Black students on campus for the first few weeks but Jenkins said he hopes to expand it to other marginalized communities in later films.  

Mr. Oldani presented the idea, said Elijah Jenkins ’22, leader of the current STUCO inclusive initiative.  Jenkins recalled Mr. Oldani saying that the Student Council needed to do something in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

 “There are only two Black people in the STUCO.” Jenkins said, explaining how this video project had allowed him to take initiative and do something to cause change.

The first video will feature Taj Hughes ’22, Patrick Chew ’22 and Desi Burrage ’21.

“Taj is also a [Black Student Union] leader with me.  He and I since Freshman year have been trying to push this narrative at Brophy and show who we are,” he said.

Burrage and Chew, both recent transfer [students], shared their stories to show how their experiences, like every Black person’s experiences, are each different.

Jenkins explained how he was tired of consistently been asked about his experiences as a Black person.  

“People came up to me asking: Elijah, what is it like to be Black? What is it like to be the only person [of color] in the room? Why is your hair like that? When you see cops, how do you feel?” he said. “After a while when that constantly happens, you don’t always want to talk about it.”

Jenkins said this was all new to him, as he was solely planning on coordinating dances, but said the ideal situation for viewers of his short films would be for them to learn.  

“We don’t always want to be answering questions.  So this is a way for people to put their voices out there, and hopefully people learn and they don’t always have to be seeking help,” he said.

The initiative is being run through the Student Council because it has the infrastructure in place for what Jenkins wanted for his videos.  

“Mr. Burr and Mr. Oldani have a vision and they provide the structure and support to do it, so it’s actually been perfect,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins also said he was happy with what Brophy administration has done so far with their new anti-racist initiative.

 “They’ve done all they can, they’ve been really great so far.  They’ve definitely provided support for many of the Black students,” Jenkins said. “I’m already seeing big changes in my classrooms.”