To mark this eventful school year, DAAS celebrates the achievements of our students, alumni, faculty and staff in stride with the obstacles they have overcome. To share these achievements with a wider audience, we’ve decided to begin a spotlight series to highlight those special members of our community who are doing important work in the world around us, and spreading academic and socially conscious excellence wherever they go.
At the end of the winter 2020 semester, we sat down with Thomas Vance, a Political Science and DAAS double-major who also serves on the executive board of the Black Student Union (BSU) as Speaker. Our conversation centered around his experience as a DAAS student and how the Black communities on campus have influenced his growth as an academic and as a socially engaged member of society. As he finishes up his senior year here at Michigan, Vance has accomplished incredible achievements both with the BSU and as a friendly face in the DAAS community. Read more to see what he thinks about his favorite classes, professors, and how the department has affected his thesis.
Clara Scott
Thank you so much for being so flexible. I just wanted to thank you for being interested in a student profile, with everything being so crazy right now. We appreciate it. So, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your experience with us. I like how you've been involved with the department and your major throughout your three years here at Michigan. Would you tell me a little bit about why you've chosen the major?
Thomas Vance
Why I chose the major?
Clara Scott
Yes.
Thomas Vance
Yeah. Um, so I knew that in high school, the biggest issue, I went to a private Catholic High School...
Clara Scott
Oh I did too, so I understand.
Thomas Vance
I never had a solid understanding of Black history, or at least a comprehensive one. And that was a big issue for me, because it was like, it just felt like the thing, from my education that I was missing. And so I was like, well, I want to be, you know, the President of the United States. And so PoliSci is like, obviously, the major I should do. I want to help Black people, and I want to understand our history.
So that's how I was like, Alright, well, I'm just gonna get a PoliSci major and a DAAS major because, you know, why not? It turns out that I do have time, which is great. But , the biggest thing is I just wanted to know more about Black history. I wanted to be able to, you know, recall dates. I wanted to be able to situate any time period or any year with what was going on with Black people. So if someone's like, 'Oh, you know, in 1888 such and such was happening.' I wanted to be able to recall. Okay, well, I know this is what Black people were going through at the time. So, like I could, I could track that. And I can trace that. And I wanted to have not just an understanding of Black people, but also some knowledge of the diaspora.
My first DAAS class was 111 with Paul Johnson and Kelly Askew, and I loved that class because it was like I really got a thorough understanding of the diaspora, and the start of slavery and in-depth slavery. And so for me, that was really important.
Clara Scott
That's totally understandable. So you mentioned that you're interested in going into politics and that's why you specifically decided to, you know, pick up the political science major as well. Was picking up the DAAS major, also a representation choice, you know, was having that basis of Black history, a choice for you to understand the Black history portion of it and have that background as you went into politics as well.
Thomas Vance
Yes, because, for me, I think it's so much easier to be like, 'Oh, well, these things have already happened,' which could be an explanation, like people have talked about generational wealth or the lack of generational wealth in Black communities. And so it's easy to be able to recall policies, programs, issues that may have contributed to that. I think that DAAS just brings a different level of nuance to contemporary conversations when we try to explain, you know, why things that look like strange phenomena are happening. Something else I forgot to mention was that I know that it's like only 4% Black students at Michigan, and I figured that DAAS would have a decent amount of Black students in their programs, which is another reason I wanted to major in it because I wanted - PoliSci is very, very white. And so I wanted classes where I can talk about Black things with other Black people, and hopefully with some Black professors. And so that's an experience I've also been able to have, it's a very good balance of... we can, I can talk about race and how it intersects with everything, in two out of my four classes this semester, and then the other two I can talk about whatever PoliSci class I'm taking.
Clara Scott
I think it's so important to have that background of history and kind of an academic understanding of what you're going into as well,especially considering how white campus is here. Specifically on that, I know that you've been involved with the BSU. What has your experience been with BSU and of their involvement with DAAS as well?
Thomas Vance
So, I got to Michigan freshman year, and I was like, oh, where are, like, the Black people. I heard that the BSU was a big deal. And so I would try to go to a lot of their mass meetings and events, but typically, they were Thursday, six to eight, and I always had a class from seven to eight so I couldn't stay for the whole thing. And then a conference. They took everybody to the Black Solidarity Conference which is held at Yale every year. And I got chosen to go one year. So that's where I kind of got acquainted with a lot of the E-board members. And I got to ask questions, because I was like, 'Well, you know, this seems like the, you know, the one other extracurricular I'll commit myself to besides debate, which is for scholarship reasons. But I was like, I want you know, something fun, and something that I can grow in. And so since then I was the historian my sophomore year, junior year I was the treasurer and this year, the speaker, merely because everybody was like 'if you truly think like, you would do well, then sure, I'll go for it.' I've had just a fantastic experience. I love the BSU, I love that we're rooted in a rich history of Black activism, and that for 50 plus years coming up, we've been just rooted in our community, committed to our community, and always trying to advance the general interests of Black students on campus.
Clara Scott
Yeah, no of course.
Thomas Vance
[Being] Speaker has definitely brought its own challenges. I know that there's so many things I'm learning in terms of leadership and communication styles. How to, you know, supervise people, because it feels like a lot of supervision. But, but always making sure that we uphold our purpose, because that's what we're here for. But we'd be nothing without our community. And so just making sure that we're always doing what we can to get back to them and put them first.
Clara Scott
Can you go a little bit more specifically into what your experience as Speaker and your duties are with the BSU right now?
Thomas Vance
What do BSU mass meetings and events look like [in a virtual space]? How do we maintain that sense of community and that sense of purpose? Even over virtual connection? So I guess a lot of what I'm doing is trying to think about that, encouraging the other E-board members to think about that. There's some administrative stuff we have to do, of course, because we're a sponsored student organization. We had a meeting with the CSG president and vice president, which was really nice, where we got to share ideas. One thing that we're going to do that we're trying to launch soon is a book club, one of our members, one of the executive board members was like, yep, this would be a good way to maintain connection. Because it's like, we have money. So you can just buy books, send the books to people and then have, you know, formal or informal meetings to discuss them.
Yes, it's really just, I think my biggest role right now is supporting other people's ideas. So you know, if someone has an idea, making sure that there's a committee for making sure that people are on board, making sure that you know, for those who are new to the Black Student Union executive board, that they know the resources they can use, the resources we have, and that they can, you know, execute their idea and see it through to its full potential. Because I'm the oldest like, this is, this would be my third year or so basically where I can vote and make funding decisions, like the core board. So I'd say like at this point of events, it's really just making sure that the, you know, the people who are going to be rising sophomores, have the same support and resources I had when I was a rising sophomore coming into the position.
Clara Scott
Yeah, have you felt that level of support from the department as well as you've been, you know, rising in Michigan communities?
Thomas Vance
100%. I think my favorite part of DAAS is definitely the Kwanzaa celebration. That's like, that, I think, the first one I went to was my sophomore year. And we didn't really do Kwanzaa in my house, I mean, when you're Black it's something you know about, but I wasn't as conscious, I guess, or recognized it. And so I love the Kwanzaa celebration because it's like Beth [Elizabeth James, BSU Advisor] wants us to do everything. We have a great meal, and it's something nice before winter break.
Advising has just been top tier. I'll be like, you know, 'What do we need to get this done,' and it's super helpful. I really like the course selection. I, you know, it's not just we learn about the history of racism every year or every semester, but it's just like, you can learn about Black folks in Europe, you can learn about, Black music. 'World of the Black Child'- I never took it but it sounds interesting.
Clara Scott
Yeah. I have a lot of friends who have taken that class and it's very interesting.
Thomas Vance
Yeah, it just never feels like any of it is too repetitive. And even though there's, there's some classes that overlap with PoliSci, but most of the classes don't. So every semester, I'm learning new and different knowledge. And even if I'm not , I'm reinforcing previous thoughts that I had, which, you know, only helps me recall Black history.
Clara Scott
Exactly! Are there specific classes that you've had positive experiences with or professors in particular?
Thomas Vance
Let's see. Okay, so, the first one is Dr. Vincent Hutchings. He taught 'Black Americans in the Political System,' that was the first time I had a black male professor. That was the first time that I could see myself in someone who looks like me, who had very similar research interests, it would be there just like it was very fulfilling. And now he's my thesis advisor, even though it's not pure PoliSci, it's on religion as a motivating force for political participation.
Clara Scott
Oh, wow.
Thomas Vance
So it's like that. It kind of just changed everything and it put me on a trajectory I didn't think I'd be on. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Askew from one of the classes I mentioned; it taught me so much about the diaspora. My favorite fact from that class is about one of the bedroom communities in Brussels that slaves escaped to and they made just like this entire network. They would build cities on hills, and so they could see the Spaniards coming from really long distances when they were trying to make, like, the idea of resilience and resistance. All that is very fascinating for me. Professor Woods, you know, even though 450 was not what I expected. But I've never had a class taught by a lawyer. And, you know, I do want to go to law school, but it's like, the idea that I could get that experience in undergrad, and we can talk about, you know, key pieces of legal history was very exciting. And so I was thrilled with the opportunity to take that class. Actually, the last one is Dr. Lacy who taught Classics crossed with Sociology. I really enjoyed that class, because we got to read some of her own writing. I had never done sociology before but I liked this because it was from the Black perspective.
Clara Scott
That's fantastic. Um, so, you know, in a more general sense, you know, as you're looking at your senior year, what are you creating your thesis with? Do you think that your experience with DAAS has impacted your approach to PoliSci in a major way?
Thomas Vance
100%. I think I say that to some people, but it doesn't come up in every conversation. Oh! Also, Dr. Burch in the Anthropology department. That class, urban ethnography. I took it this semester and I really loved it. Because I didn't know what ethnography was, because PoliSci, at a lot of times, is very quantitative. And if you put out qualitative work it has to be really good or everybody's gonna think it's silly. Yeah, it was really nice to just read a lot of ethnography, read about people's experiences. In the beginning of that class, we spend like a week or two weeks just talking about epistemology, and how we should choose our subjects, how we have to be aware of, like, academia as an institution. And you know how we can highlight black voices in black perspectives, even with academic publication. And I do not think, if I didn't take that class, I'd have the same knowledge and the same approach. So with my thesis, I don't want it to just be quantitative. I don't want it to just be a bunch of regressions with an explanation for why my causal model might be better than someone else's. Yeah, I want to have perspectives. I want to have experiences, I want to talk to people who lived through the civil rights movement, can recall a time where they couldn't vote, and can recall a time where they could vote and they're still gonna go to church. And I also want to talk to young people, like young black people who don't really go to church, but we're still politically active. Even if it's not something that gets published, I still know that information and, you know, that class taught me that seeking that information is still valid and invaluable.
Clara Scott
Well, that's fantastic. I'm really excited to see what you end up finding as well. It's really great to hear there are so many people picking up stuff from different disciplines and approaching African and Afroamerican Studies and applying it to that. I think on a more general note to kind of finish up this interview, what has the most important and general thing that DAAS has taught you in the last few years, if you can boil it down?
Thomas Vance
The importance of student activism, DAAS came out of BAM I, and just the uprising and the wisdom that I get from Mama Beth has always been really important. Seeing how an entire department came from, you know, some college kids in 1970 and some demands. I think if I look back and reflect on all of it, like a very bird's-eye perspective, that's what I get out of it the most just like wow, students can really do a lot. Black students can really do a lot, we're resilient, or powerful. And there's so many things that have come out of student activism. And it's like DAAS celebrates that. I think the Ujima exhibit to celebrate the 50th has already been digitized, but it's like, that was a DAAS and BSU effort. It's just thinking about all that's been accomplished before me. And I think about ‘Okay, what's going to be my legacy as Speaker? What's going to be our legacy for, you know, this coronavirus election year?’ Just the importance of student activism and how much students can get done.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
