To most white students of Fairfield University, participation in UMOJA, the African-American Association on campus, is not under their list of extracurricular activities.
Then there is Burim Gjidija ’05. He is the first white student ever to be elected president of UMOJA, Fairfield University’s black student organization.
“Although many supported my election, many were vocal about the face of a black organization being white,” said Gjidija. “I heard a lot of gossip and a lot of ‘he said she said’ kind of hearsay. At times, it was hard to be taken seriously during executive board meetings.”
“Some family members thought that I wasn’t very serious about it and thought it was a joke,” said Gjidija.
The questions raised became fuel for Gjidija.
“All the negativity seemed to drive me to do a great job,” said Gjidija. Upon winning the election, his main goal was to make UMOJA more accessible to the entire campus.
Gjidija’s family is from Albania and he was raised in Bronx, N.Y. “I was fortunate to grow up in a diverse environment,” said Gjidija.
During his spare time, he listens to R’B and reggae, which is why he enjoys dance parties when he has nights off. Nights off are a rarity for the pre-med student who is swamped with MCAT review sessions and practice tests in addition to being a resident assistant in Regis and this year’s president of UMOJA.
UMOJA students seem divided on having a white president.
“I thought we would be better off with a black leader because it would make more sense to the eye of the public,” said black UMOJA member Francesca Andre ’06. “I wasn’t happy with the election.”
Another student said Gjidija has proven himself this year.
“Burim has handled his position with great pride and dedication,” said UMOJA member Francesca Cobb ’04. “I think he’s doing an awesome job and has the support of a great advisor.
Burim considered his advisor Larri Mazon, the director of multicultural relations of Fairfield, to be one of his strongest supporters during his election. “Mr. Mazon seemed to have appreciated my candidness about Fairfield diversity and how UMOJA gave me kind of a cool niche here,” said Gjidija.
“Burim has elevated awareness and provided everyone with the opportunity to become involved,” said Mazon. “The significance of his election is that we encourage one not born of a certain culture to embrace another culture besides their own.”
This year, there are four white members of the 25 in UMOJA. Last year, Gjidija was the only one. The year before there was zero.
“The first meeting, people were surprised to see me,” said Lisa Augustine ’07, a white UMOJA member who was just elected the UMOJA events social coordinator for next year. “But they quickly warmed up to me and now I know an extra 30 people just by joining the club.”
“The way he advertises events is great,” said Zultan Bermudez, president of the Asian Student Association. “He personally invites ASA to the events and is eager for everyone to participate.”
One such event was the Black Expo which took place last Wednesday in the lower level of the BCC. “There was food, music and people getting their hair braided,” said Augustine. “It got a lot of attention from people that passed by.”
“He definitely has made a difference,” said UMOJA member Enoch Benoit ’06. “He got us to Howard University and we’ve been trying to go there as a group for awhile.”
UMOJA attended the predominantly black college’s homecoming for a weekend in October 2003. “There, I was able to learn more about a different cultural environment and see how I could apply it to our campus,” said Gjidija.
In 2003, Kwanza, the club’s main annual event which is opened to all of campus was cancelled due to a snowstorm. Gjidija quickly began to plan Evening of Ebony to replace it two months later. “It was a huge success and it had the biggest turnout of white students compared to prior Kwanza celebrations,” said Gjidija.
Gjidija is also the first white student to ever win the Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Award at an awards dinner this past January. A board of faculty and staff elect someone who honors “individuals who promote Dr. King’s philosophy, teachings and vision.”
The MLK Vision Award was also given to Cobb. “I think that Burim and I, by representing organizational groups on campus that don’t reflect our own cultural backgrounds, makes a statement to the university to embrace, accept and understand other cultures,” said Cobb ’04 who also happens to be the first black student to become the president of SALSA, the Hispanic Association on campus.
Gjidija not only represents AHANA in FUSA, but is also on the university’s Board of Governors, where he and seven other governors vote on which campus events sponsored by clubs should be financially supported.
At the start of Gjidija’s term, the UMOJA Club won an award from the Board of Governors for their “dedication to Fairfield University as a student organization.”
UMOJA member Nicole Williams ’04 has been supportive of Gjidija, but said the group’s success is due to the hard work of others as well. “The award meant a lot because UMOJA doesn’t thrive just because of one person,” she said. “It’s because our members work together as one entity.”
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