Taughannock Falls room was packed with students murmuring amongst themselves Sept. 28. It was a gray and cloudy Saturday, but inside there was a spectrum of bright, eye-catching colors. A wide variety of hairstyles populated the conference room, including braids, twists, afros, straight hair and wigs, all with different colors and adorned with charms and accessories.
This was the first Protect Your Crown Retreat organized by the BIPOC Unity Center. Inspired by the passing of the CROWN Act, first in California and then in New York state in 2019, the retreat was organized by McKenzie Murray, program coordinator at the BIPOC Unity Center, with the help of the rest of the BIPOC Unity team. Now, 27 states have adopted the CROWN Act.
The CROWN Act is a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of hair. In the opening presentation for the retreat, Murray explained the importance of placing protections on the right to wear one’s hair in culturally significant styles. Murray described this significance as hair that is aesthetically, historically, socially and spiritually valuable to particular cultures.
Murray opened the retreat with a presentation on the history and meaning of the CROWN Act, with the hopes of encouraging a deeper discussion about hair discrimination.
“What are the issues surrounding Black hair or BIPOC hair?” Murray said. “Beyond just getting products, but also like in the workplace, in schools, because we wanted to make it educational as well. Our office is all about empowerment and fighting injustice.”
The idea for the retreat was pitched by Cliff-Simon Vital, associate director of the BIPOC Unity Center. He said he had been wanting to create something like this for the past two years and this semester, suggested it to Murray and the team as an option for new programming.
“The Crown Act [retreat] was my brainchild,” Vital said. “We’ve had, historically, something called the Student of Color Retreat, and with the affirmative action changes, we thought that that just wasn’t an appropriate name for it. We also thought that the retreat didn’t really do anything to help empower students to understand their Blackness.”
Murray said she knew she wanted a panel for students to be able to meet and speak with faculty to gain some perspective, and she ordered products from a wholesale beauty supply store for the goodie bags. In addition to Vital and Murray, the panelists were Nia Nunn, associate professor in the Department of Education, and Stephanie Nevels, a social worker at CAPS. The panel was moderated by Omar Stoute, director of Staff Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. The student asked about how to have more confidence as well as ways to find community on campus and in town.
“I was born and raised in Ithaca, and it’s going to sound so weird to digest, but I remember you when I was a little girl,” Nunn said to the audience. “I remember having exposure to Ithaca College students, and particularly Black students, when I was little, and even though I’m old enough to be your mother, that was transformative.”
After the panel, a hair-themed bingo was organized. Students rushed around, trading bingo cards and stories. Once the prizes — Ithaca College tote bags — were given, Vital gave the attendees goodie bags, half with bonnets and half with durags, before everyone left for the van ride to Syracuse for the final event of the retreat.
Upon arriving in Syracuse, students visited two beauty supply stores: BSW Beauty and Ultimate Beauty Supply. In the stores, students consulted with each other on what products worked best. Many students had baskets filled with hair for braids, shampoo and curling products. The students were then taken to two more beauty stores to continue shopping.
First-year student Glenda Galloway said she appreciated growing her connections with other students at the retreat.
“I just feel relieved that there are people on campus who share similar experiences with me,” Galloway said. “The fact that I just got here six weeks ago, it’s just very inviting and very comforting knowing that I have people that I can talk to about situations that we’ve all been through.”
Sophomore Giovanna Moro said she hopes more students will come in the future to experience the event.
“This is a really important topic, and I feel like if you’re part of this community, you’re gonna feel more embraced by it and feel like you’re welcome to be there,” Moro said. “But if you’re not, I feel like everyone should just come, just to learn. It’s really important to know what this is.”
