The Whole World was Watching from the Menil

Beginning in the 1940’s the Menil’s began to see the importance and spiritual connection between ancient art and the art of indigenous cultures, and with great pride began to collect art that could tell a story with no words.

The Menils recognized the connection between contemporary works of art and the art of ancient and indigenous cultures. The couple had begun to explore the idea of building a museum to house their collection. Even after John’s death in 1973 , Dominique de Menil is pursuing their dream.

With over 17,000 works of art and still collecting the museum features different rooms and spaces that hold diverse representations of human creativity from the ancient past to the present.

The Whole World Was Watching is a room filled with images of the civil rights era and features the work of many photographers including Bob Adelman , Danny Lyon, and Gene Roberts. Images held here show the reality of what was happening during the peak of the civil rights movement.

“Photographers saw the importance of these photographs for racial politics” said Michelle White, the Menil tour guide . “There are 36 photo’s here , so I had to really select which pieces would tell the story correctly and had the most visual impact.”

In contrast to other museums the Menil focuses on just the images without giving much insight into the background. Against plain white walls and just the photographers name next to the photo, the Menil allows the mind to choose how you see and interpret the image.

Danny Lyon , a contributing photographer was a student at the University of Chicago, a member of the SNCC(student nonviolent coordinating committee)and worked as a photographer for a news paper. Lyon new that the rest of the world needed to know how racially divided the south still was.

“ He knew that these were critical images would be dispersed through newspaper and people in the North could see that the South was still severely segregated area and how Blacks were mistreated by Whites” said Michelle White.

The Whole World Was Watching is filled with images from different points in civil rights, including the March on Washington , police brutality , and the rise of women. Even though there are no words with the photos , you can understand the emotion given in the image.

George Wallace was a contributor to the vivid images of the room. As a photo journalist Wallace would approach people explaining to them how he wanted to white perspective on what was happening in the civil rights movement.

“ He was placed in horrible situations but he played it cool and got some images that supported the liberal biases of the North” White said.

At times photographers were just as active, marching alongside protestors and snapping pictures.

According to Dominique de Menil , the idea of a museum slowly took shape, and she never dreamed of preserving some of the intimacy she enjoyed with the works of art. She knew with the right strategy, the public would have the rare joy of sitting in front of a painting and contemplating it.

Texas Southern students express their concerns

Texas Southern students are expressing their views and concerns about the University and want to know the actions Student Government Association plan to take to make a better TSU now.

Texas Southern is a university that takes pride in the satisfaction of the attending students. There are several facilities that accommodate the education of the students and the recreation for students who are living on and off campus.

The Recreation center is fully staffed with student workers and non student workers. Staff members serve as referees, equipment distributors, and even lifeguards. While schedules are created to be followed some employees are bending the rules.

“ I remember my friends and I wanted to go swimming the other day and even though we were told the pool closed at 9:30, there was no one there when we showed up at 8:15 and we were unable to swim” said Coriean Wilson , a junior and member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity at the university

No lifeguards on duty during the permitted hours are not the only issue students are having at Texas Southern. University housing and operations has seemed to stir up a bit of frustration towards freshmen and even returning students from possibly over booking the housing.

TSU has many lodging facilities for students including Greystone, University Courtyard, Tierwester Oaks, and newly added the Savoy apartments which are located just a block over from the university.

“I think they over booked…so I had to stay in a hotel while the Housing department searched for an apartment for me to stay in” said Tynesia Richards a freshman from Dallas. “ It was a nice hotel and the staff made sure we were safe” she added.

Student Government officials are currently working on addressing the concerns of the students and have a clear direction in which they are headed to rectify the frustrations.

“ Residential Life and Housing is working tirelessly to rectify the issues with the Ambling properties. Mark Lambert the Director of Campus Services as well as Joseph Greenwich the Interim Director of Housing met with Executive SGA members and will be issuing a status report for dissemination in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, we do applaud their efforts as we look towards a new and revitalized living community that is conducive towards academic prosperity” said Shekira Dennis External Vice President of SGA.

Even though there are issues with recreation and housing , students also question the sincere concern of advisors and professors.

Colleges and Universities are supplied with advisors and professors to guide students down the prestigious path of education and serve as a informant of the unknown when it comes to the steps it takes to complete a degree plan.

“I am 2 semesters from graduation and I wish my advisor had more office time because she is a professor as well.” said Charlotte Winters, a junior in the Jesse H. Jones School of business.

Students from every school can actively participate in the advisory week that concentrates on helping students choose the correct path toward a successful graduation date. During advisory week , advisors are available for extra hours to correct transcript issues, untaken classes, and clear paths to graduation.

Texas Southern has issues like all universities and are making great efforts to get them resolved quickly and effectively. Students, staff, and even parents are working together to improve the university and make it a better TSU NOW!