Carl Mason, 1971

File — Box: 2, Folder: 7

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Mason works with academic departments, the Dean of the Students’ Office, and students to help the University of Utah better meet the needs of African American students. He works primarily as a counselor and adviser to African American students. He was born in Lexington Kentucky, lived in Grand Rapids Michigan, and attended Grand Rapids Junior College and Augustana College in Illinois. He obtained two Masters Degrees, one from the University of Michigan and one from Western Michigan University. He has an M.A. in educational administration and counselling and personnel. He feels that the main difference between African American students in Utah and in other places he has worked is that in Utah they are more complacent and accepting of their situation. One of their specific barriers, he says, is how much in the minority African Americans are here. He mentions some of the influential African Americans here as being Jim Dooley, Alberta Henry, Jimmy Gray, and Mignon Richmond. He feels that at the time of the interview there was a tendency for African American students to try to get away from bigger cities by coming to Utah for an education, and that after that they migrate away from the state. Their time here, he says, is focused on exploring their identities and introspection. He notes that at the time of the interview, there were close to two hundred African American students at the University of Utah, and that 40-45% of them were Salt Lake natives.

Mason tries to help minority students by encouraging departments to provide classes that explored the history and heritage of minority students, which help to increase a minority student’s sense of self-identity. He says that some departments, the Sociology Department in particular, are resistant to offering these courses, partially due to the influence of conservatism and the LDS Church religion. He says that some of the problems for African Americans attending college occur due to financial issues; it is difficult to find transportation and a cheap apartment due to discriminatory housing practices. He relates a story of his own regarding his experience dealing with overt racism when trying to find housing, and says that the only way he was able to get housing was by threatening to take the person denying it to him to court. He states that African American students were in many different disciplines at the time of the interview, ranging from medicine to psychology to law school and business. He states that he sees one of the problems with Utah as the tendency for it to be so “uptight” that nothing diverse or potentially subversive is let in, relating it to the novel 1984. He says that the LDS Church controls everything in one way or another, and that the real problem is that they are “patronizing” and infiltrate people by pretending to be their friend. He and the interviewer discuss the election of the first African American president and homecoming queen at the University, and the ramifications it could have on the Black population in the school. He says that his two objectives in his job are to make things easier for African American students and to help them know more about their backgrounds. Audio CD A0038_B-2_02

Dates

1971

Conditions Governing Access

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