Page 126 - Kappa Eta 40th Anniversary History Book

1980’s Reflections

by Marlon Prince
KH 1988

The 80’s were a special time. It marked a “coming of age”
of a special group of young people. Those young people
were the offspring’s of the veterans of the “Civil Rights”
Era. We were the children of those people who either
actually protested or experienced the great Civil Rights
Movement in the United States. Some of our parents fought
for rights in Africa, as well as the Caribbean. As those

peoples offspring’s converged on to the various college campuses across the
nation, things got…….interesting to say the least. I came to Seton Hall as a 17
year old freshman in the fall of ’83. My parents taught me to love myself and my
heritage. I was extremely pro black, but at the same time I knew how to deal
with “the other side” peacefully. Just like we were the off springs of the “pro
black era”, our fellow white students were the off springs of the people our
parents protested. During my freshman year there was a racial incident in the
biology building between a professor and a black student. Vince Mays, the
president of SHU’s black student union mobilized the students of color on the
campus and we converged on the green in front of the biology building, and we
protested. The professor who was involved in the incident addressed us. During
his address he informed us that “I love black people, in fact one of my best
friends is a black man.” A Phrase that I had always heard in the past in jest.
When I heard this man say this, I knew what I was up against. A big thing on
College campuses in the 80’s was protesting the Government of South Africa. We
protested the various college’s investments into South Africa’s racist the system
known as “Apartied”. I became an active member of the Black Student Union
because I knew if we were going to coexist with what we were going to school
with, we had to be strong. I was usually one of two maybe three black students
in most of my classes. I was usually the only black male in my classes. And I had
my share of “B+’s”, or what we used to call at SHU, a black “A”. We were looked
at different by our professors. We were look different by our white counter parts.
Often times we were made to feel like they didn’t want us up on the yard. It
was a hard situation to deal with, and every year it seem to get worse.

During the 80’s the chapter had its ups and downs. Some of the “ups” were we
initiated approximately 30 brothers during the decade. The Chapter consisted of
Seton Hall, Upsala College, Montclair State Univ., Rutgers-Newark, Bloomfield
College, Jersey City State, and St. Peters’s College. We also had a heavy
influence at Kean College. We held positions of authority at Seton Hall. I was
the Black Student Union President during 1985/86. That was also the year of the
race riots. We were on the forefront of various face related protest. We were
relevant in the community surrounding the campus, conducting an on-going

Kappa Eta 1975-2015 ver June-25-2016 Page 125