Trevor Noah speaking over Zoom with student hosts Anuja Gore and Ally Roberts. August 22, 2020.
At the culmination of a week of move-ins, COVID-19 testing and virtual gatherings, the University of Colorado Boulder wrapped up their welcome week with an appearance from a special guest.
The CU Cultural Events Board (CEB) invited Trevor Noah, host of the Emmy and Peabody nominated late night program The Daily Show, for a moderated discussion hosted on Zoom.�
On Wednesday, the CEB announced that Noah would be appearing at 8 p.m. on August 22nd. The announcement, first posted on Instagram, drew attention from incoming freshman and current students.
However, come Saturday, the program got off to a rocky start. Twenty minutes after the scheduled start time had come and gone, the two student hosts, Anuja Gore and Ally Roberts, announced that the program was experiencing technical difficulties.
�We thank you for your patience as we figure out the adventures of Zoom events,� the CEB posted to their Instagram story at 8:30 p.m.. Like a multitude of professors and administrators who had presented at Zoom welcome events just a few hours before, the hosts of the event struggled to adapt to hosting a guest virtually.
At 8:45 p.m., Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Akirah Bradley kicked off the discussion. She noted that this particular Zoom webinar had more complicated security to �prevent Zoom bombing.�
Once Gore and Roberts introduced Noah, things got underway.�
�This Zoom call has more security than my bank account,� started Noah.
The student moderators quickly moved into some particularly heavy topics, especially around the comedian�s early life in South Africa under apartheid.
�I grew up in an environment where people�s identity is determined by their skin color,� Noah said.�From a young age, he continued, �I was very aware of the fact that the color of our skin has shaped or affected our lives.�
In a way, he explained, the segregation and discrimination of his early childhood influenced his foray into comedy.
�When you get bullied you have to figure out how to outsmart the bullies,� Noah said.
Noah mentioned that �comedy became one of the tools that I used… it would get me out of sticky situations.�
The moderators then moved to Noah�s challenges growing up. Noah said that, since his mother is African and his father is European, under apartheid, his parents lived in two opposite communities, and had very different experiences.�This difference, Noah said, helped him learn how to tailor his speech towards different audiences.
He was taught that �people can live in the same world and have two completely different experiences.� Not only has this knowledge aided him in his comedy, but its influenced his coverage of the news on The Daily Show.
�I try to create a show that is funny and informative,� said Noah.
When looking for issues to talk about on his show, Noah said that he doesn�t find singular events worth generating fear or anger over. He said that he�ll often ask himself, �is this a story about (one) thing or a larger thing?�
Systematic racism has been a topic Noah has covered on The Daily Show for a long time, and he was asked several questions about the issue.
�In America,� he began, �people have tried to blur the lines between history and philosophy.�
Instead of debating the philosophical implications of America�s complicated history, Noah says it�s better to simply understand it.
�If we understand how we got here, you learn two things: how to fix the thing and how to stop it from happening again,� he said.
Noah said that the reason why some people draw issues with the current Black Lives Matter protests and calls for racial justice is because racism in America isn�t overt.
�It�s a system, a very subtle system,� he explained. He added that the public�s lack of knowledge of the subject is a reason why higher education is so important in this moment.
�For me, university is a place where you can share ideas that you wouldn�t normally.�
Noah said that dealing with challenging topics and differing opinions is one of the most important parts of college, and the ability to challenge yourself is a skill that�s hard to learn.
�I love being in an environment where I feel like I have to learn more to be there,� he said.
As the discussion came to a close, Noah ended with some thoughts about the virtue of going to school digitally in a pandemic.
�I know some classes may not be amazing,� he closed, �and some lectures may not be interesting, but if you have this time, use it.�
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Henry Larson at henry.larson@colorado.edu.
