Shining a Light on Black Excellence: Itunu Adebayo

By Madison Lewis

ITUNU Adebayo uses her role as a community assistant to ensure a safe and community-driven environment for her residents, and to be a familiar face and pillar of support on campus.

Adebayo, a junior criminal justice major, is a first-year CA in Gee Hall. She is the secretary of Rider’s Muslim Student Association and an active member of club volleyball.

Adebayo sets herself up for success by being proactive amid chaos.

“[Being a CA] has impacted my time at Rider by more so preparing me to deal with situations right away,” she said. “When you are a CA and you are on duty … you are on call all of a sudden and if something happens you do have to be the first person to respond.”

Adebayo is the line of communication that connects her residents to the Rider community and each other, creating a support system. 

Junior sociology major She’ron Mason played on the women’s club volleyball with Adebayo and were friends since their freshman year. Mason said Adebayo was so successful at Rider because she is kind, intelligent, intuitive and treats people with respect.

Adebayo’s favorite aspect of being a CA is interacting with her peers and developing relationships with both residents and other CAs.

union criminal justice major Itunu Adebayo (left) and junior sociology major Wendy Dayanna (right) are both CAs at Rider. (Photo courtesy of Itunu Adebayo)

Adebayo recalled a time when she was on duty at one a.m. when she got a call pertaining to a mouse in one of the dorms, and she had to gauge what to do – she called Public Safety. 

She detailed that she would have been too scared, maybe even slipped and fell, if she had to catch the mouse herself.

Adebayo concluded with, “Long story short, there was no mouse. I do not know what [the student] heard.”

Adebayo related Residence Life to the current diversity, equity and inclusion debate in politics. She mentioned that some members of Residence Life were never CAs or students at Rider and did not always advocate for the CAs or listen to their feedback.

When asked if she noticed a change in the social landscape on Rider’s campus, Adebayo observed how the higher-ups could put more effort into making the school more diverse and equitable. She mentioned that the school could improve in promoting and supporting more events that showcase diversity.

Adebayo noted that the Muslim Student Association does not often receive a universitywide email that would encourage the student body to attend meetings or events.

“There is more diversity and we are getting higher rates of people of color, especially Black people, which is great to see,” she said.“I still feel like there is still the same amount of ignorance and I do not think that has necessarily changed with an influx of diversity at Rider.”

Mason said that diversity on campus provides a “general safe space” for people of color with Rider being a predominantly white institution.

She commended Rider on its immediate response to recent events relating to conversations surrounding diversity, like an email about how students should react when seeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus. 

Adebayo appreciates the importance of commemorative months like Black History Month because it gives people the opportunity to educate themselves on issues that may not directly affect them.

“[Black History Month] is a conversation starter. … It helps to slowly destigmatize whatever previous thoughts people could have had,” she said.

Mason believes that highlighting minority groups and their accomplishments paves the way for reminding people that Black people contributed to American and global culture.

“When I think … in terms of civil rights in general, I almost always think Black people,” said Mason. “When it comes to feminist movements or queer movements. I feel like … specifically Black women are almost always at the forefront of these movements.”

Both Adebayo and Mason believe that there can be improvements to Rider’s DEI initiatives, but the university ultimately values diversity.

Adebayo said, “You can only understand so much from an outside perspective and it’s when you actually come in and are actually willing to understand.”

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