Jackie Fernandez, a television, radio and film graduate student, sees a racial imbalance in the student population of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

‘I think you really see Caucasian people more than anything else,’ Fernandez said. ‘I don’t think it’s something that’s really talked about because I think that people are really scared to talk about it.’

Richard Dubin, a professor of television, radio and film, agrees with Fernandez about the racial imbalance. This imbalance is part of the reason why director and screenwriter Scott Sanders is coming to Newhouse as a part of the ninth annual ‘Conversation on Race and Entertainment Media’ lecture series, Dubin said. Sanders will be speaking at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse III.

Sanders has worked as a television writer, film screenwriter and director throughout the years. His film ‘Black Dynamite,’ shown Monday evening in Newhouse, was well received at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Dubin said. Operating under the name ‘Suckapunch,’ Sanders is also ‘one of the most popular DJs in Los Angeles,’ Dubin said.

Dubin will act as moderator during the lecture, and he stressed that the event will be more of a conversation than a lecture. Dubin did not plan out his questions ahead of time and encourages audience participation.

‘It’s not like we’re going to talk and then you’re going to ask questions,’ Dubin said. ‘You can ask questions, make comments, participate in any way you like, do interpretive dance.’

Dubin started the lecture series nine years ago and said he has seen the racial imbalance at Newhouse improve since he first arrived on campus. Part of the reason why this event happens every year is because the imbalance can still be improved upon, he said.

‘If you talk to black students on campus, you’ll find that they feel isolated, particularly those in Newhouse,’ Dubin said. ‘I thought that it was important that they see that there are black people who are navigating the industry and for the rest of students to understand that the world they live in, which is principally white, is not the ideal one, not something that should be accepted without question.’

Jenah Newman, a senior television, radio and film major, agreed the lack of diversity in Newhouse is a cause for some concern.

‘I think it’s definitely a problem because we’re going to be people who are entering the mass communications industry, and if we haven’t experienced diversity, then that’s an issue,’ Newman said.

Newman said that she hopes Sanders’ presentation will give her a new, multicultural perspective on the career in line with the major she is pursuing.

Dubin gained a similar perspective while working on black television shows, including when he played in the band Alabama’s first integrated television show in 1963. He was also involved in the nation’s early civil rights movement.

‘My experience with him has always been stimulating,’ Dubin said, ‘and I look forward to sharing that experience with the folks at Newhouse.’

lefulton@syr.edu

Published on February 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Lorne: lefulton@syr.edu