{"id":4249,"date":"2019-05-30T12:31:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T16:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=4249"},"modified":"2019-12-18T13:17:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T18:17:20","slug":"the-royal-treatment-emus-newest-student-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2019\/05\/30\/the-royal-treatment-emus-newest-student-space\/","title":{"rendered":"The Royal Treatment: EMU’s newest student space"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Mark Loving III ’19 gives Associate Track and Field coach Erick Camodeca a cut. The new student lounge space, with barber’s chairs and a hairwashing station, is a favorite late night spot managed by the Black Student Union.<\/p><\/div>\n

EMU\u2019S NEWEST STUDENT SPACE<\/strong> \u2013 a barbershop and salon space dubbed \u201cThe Royal Treatment\u201d \u2013 opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during the university\u2019s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in January. The cozy room, managed by members of the Black Student Union, includes barber\u2019s chairs, a hairwashing station, television and two couches, enlivened by a mural celebrating African and African-American culture. The new equipment and renovations were supported by generous donors who helped the project gain full funding on EMU\u2019s crowdfunding site in record time.<\/p>\n

BSU members called The Royal Treatment a major milestone in university history. Senior Jessica Washington<\/strong>, the club\u2019s secretary, said she never imagined \u201csomething like this\u201d when she arrived on campus four years ago. \u201cThis is a real blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is much more than a barbershop. This is a sanctuary,\u201d said senior Jourdyn Friend<\/strong>, BSU vice president. \u201cYour hairdresser is more like a counselor, there to talk about your problems… This space is progress towards recognizing not just the majority but also the minority. This is a symbol of our voice being heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

BSU co-president Jakiran Richardson<\/strong>, a sophomore, views the new space as the university\u2019s way of showing empathy and understanding for students of color who must adapt to a predominantly white campus culture. \u201cWe understand what you\u2019re going through,\u201d he translated. \u201cHere\u2019s something to show our appreciation for you being here and that we are about who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erick Camodeca<\/strong>, associate cross country and track and field coach, went to get a \u201ctemp fade\u201d from senior Mark Loving III<\/strong>, who used to offer haircuts in his campus apartment but now has a more professional space to work. Camodeca arrived last summer, but his experience at four other universities has given him a critical eye. The new space, he said, \u201csends out a message that this university does care, that we are making a commitment to diversity and to our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barbershop is \u201call about community, one of EMU\u2019s core values,\u201d Camodeca added. \u201cWhat better place than a barbershop where people of all diversities and backgrounds can share an experience and learn something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Ariel Barbosa<\/strong>, co-president of Latino Student Alliance, remembered barbershop visits with her dad, who has both African and indigenous Brazilian heritage. That same feeling of \u201cbeing at home there\u201d in the barbershop of her childhood is one she hopes will be shared here. \u201cI\u2019m excited that students are at the center of this project,\u201d she said. \u201cI just envision this as a space that will be one of true diversity, where people of all hair types will find a place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EMU\u2019S NEWEST STUDENT SPACE \u2013 a barbershop and salon space dubbed \u201cThe Royal Treatment\u201d \u2013 opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during the university\u2019s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in January. The cozy room, managed by members of the Black Student Union, includes barber\u2019s chairs, a hairwashing station, television and two couches, enlivened by a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":4306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,947],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-springsummer-2019","issues-current-issue","issues-spring-summer-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4249"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4364,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions\/4364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}