Black Appalachian student ambassadors refrain from tours

By Mickey Hutchings

The Appalachian reports that due to frustration about the university’s response to COVID-19 and demands from the Black at App State Collective has led Black Appalachian Student Ambassadors to refrain from giving campus tours. Ambassadors are students who give tours of the university and work alongside the Office of Admissions, the Alumni Association and the Office of the Chancellor. Black at App State is a collective that gained attention this summer when it wrote a list of demands to university administration, including Chancellor Sheri Everts. The collective called for actions from the university like a bias incident reporting system and more support resources for Black students. Sarah Garrow, the associate director of alumni affairs says her office has met with two of the ambassadors on strike, and shared its progress on office-wide action steps towards inclusion. The action steps include things like staff members in Garrow’s office completing “measurable performance goals related to diversity and inclusion training opportunities to promote personal and professional growth” and continuing to work alongside and collaborate with leaders in the African American Alumni Network, she wrote in an email.