Social media incident intensifies race conversation at W&J
Junior Maia Ervin, shown Friday on the Washington & Jefferson College campus, questions the progress on addressing racial issues at the school.
Freshman Tymothy Moyer, shown Friday on the Washington & Jefferson College campus, believes there are “certain injustices and misconceptions” that need to be addressed at the school.
A social media post that resulted in the Washington & Jefferson College student government president stepping down has intensified the focus on race on the campus.
In a post that circulated among students, an altered image of an advertisement for black light mini golf was changed to “black golf” and featured images of Tiger Woods with the caption, “Tiger welcomes his people.”
Nathaniel Ecker, Student Government Association president, issued an apology and stepped down March 30.
There was no response to an email sent to Ecker for comment, but an email from the Ecker family stated, “Please know that when our son posted, ‘W&J supports diversity’ to a previously altered ad for mini golf, he certainly did not intend to offend or disparage anyone.”
SGA Vice President Kenny Clark, who will take over as president next school year, said while it was an unfortunate incident, the post sparked a deeper dialogue on racism and racial insensitivity on campus.
“It’s weird to say, but it’s good that it’s happened,” Clark said. “It brings awareness to the issue. There are people on campus who don’t know this stuff is happening.”
Clark, who is African-American, said he has witnessed such insensitivity on campus – derogatory names, disrespectful language and expressions of surprise that he excels academically.
“It’s stuff that you would see anywhere. It mostly stems from ignorance more than malice,” he said. “It’s the little things that add up. If it’s a big thing, it’s going to get attention. The little things stick with me. I don’t want students to sit on it and swallow it. I think W&J needs to act … so students know what to do when racial incidents happen.”
Erik Rueter, director of marketing and communications, said occurrences of discrimination are not unique to W&J.
“We are not completely in a bubble, and therefore, our culture is influenced by the greater culture and increased globalization,” Rueter said. “Inevitably, we’re going to have conflicts. Our goal is to make sure the conflicts become learning experiences.”
President Tori Haring-Smith said the strategic plan for the private, liberal arts college, which has a student population of 1,396, identifies increasing diversity as an objective. As a result, the enrollment of minority students is proliferating.
According to the college, in 2005, 4.8 percent of freshmen identified as minority students, and three international students were enrolled. In 2016, 14.7 percent of freshmen identified as minority students, and 16 international students from 11 countries were enrolled.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said David Kieran, assistant professor of history. “I think the faculty and administration, with very few exceptions, are committed to creating a very inclusive environment. As we become more aware of incidents, we are trying to address them and move closer to our ultimate goal of inclusivity at W&J.”
Junior Maia Ervin agrees in her three years on campus, she has seen an increase of minority students. But issues of exclusion and bigotry are far from resolved, she said.
“You have people here that genuinely think this campus is inclusive and that there’s no racism and that it’s diverse. That’s difficult for me,” Ervin said. “I can say it until my face is blue that I’ve experienced racism, and some people will still say I didn’t and I’m too sensitive. A lot of people say that you just have to have a sense of humor. But what I say is, what’s so wrong with being politically correct?”
Ervin, a PublicSource intern, wrote a piece for the Pittsburgh nonprofit news outlet after the Ecker incident. She said it garnered a lot of attention and facilitated meetings with college administration, but she’s not confident it will spark a change.
“It bothers me that this article was a catalyst (for action), because we’ve been talking about these issues for so long. Why wasn’t something done before this? We’ve talked and talked and talked, and nothing happens,” she said. “I don’t want to say they’re not trying, because I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. But from a student’s perspective, we see nothing.”
During her freshman year, Ervin felt uncomfortable in a class with a professor who made assumptions about her background. She said she talked to the administration but wasn’t told if anything was done, so she switched classes.
Ervin said she witnessed fellow students use a racial slur against a friend, and has heard a resident adviser and faculty member say the N-word.
India March, a junior who graduated from Washington High School, said while she hasn’t experienced blatant racism, she has seen it on campus.
“It’s hard to see friends going through that. It’s hard to see people saying things. It’s not necessarily faculty and staff. It’s the students that are being admitted and who are supposed to be representing W&J,” March said. “You know racism exists. I can walk past people, and I know they feel different about me. I don’t feel 100 percent comfortable. I always feel like I have to be better than the status quo.”
Freshman Tymothy Moyer, a Delaware resident, said he was concerned about coming to Western Pennsylvania as a minority. His acceptance as a fellow in the Charles West program, which is an initiative to support black students, made him feel more comfortable with his college decision.
“I was told coming out here was going to be pretty hard as a minority. My experience has been pretty tough, to prove to people that you have to look past my skin color to see my true abilities,” Moyer said. “That’s what I believe the college sees in me and other minorities. They see us with all of these abilities and see that we can flourish. Unfortunately, there are certain injustices and misconceptions that I believe need to be addressed.”
Moyer recalled an incident in November in which he said a campus security guard entered his dorm room and accused him and three friends of smoking marijuana. Moyer said although the guard later retracted the accusation, he made a threat before leaving the room.
“He said the next time he had to come in, he would grab all of us – he looked at me – and said he would hang us from trees to have our bodies swinging in the wind for everyone to look at as an example,” said Moyer, who said he reported it. “Now, as a person of color, having an older, Caucasian gentleman look at me and tell me he’s going to hang me from a tree to set me as an example … I didn’t come here to be set as an example.”
Haring-Smith said when reports are made, they are followed up on, even if privacy issues prevent students from being notified of disciplinary action.
“There are individuals who are required to go to diversity training. I can’t say who or in response to what,” she said. “The question is, what do they expect? Do they expect a faculty member to be fired? I have conversations with this group all of the time. Things are being done, but we aren’t going to publicly execute somebody.”
Moyer said he is frustrated by racism on campus, but optimistic he will see change.
“These students, especially the black community, they are clamoring, they are crying, they are in need of help. Every single day, we wake up on this campus and think, how else are we going to walk around and be marginalized? Walking down the street and looking around and just being nervous,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to feel this way. We are looking for voices of support. We don’t really feel so safe, listened to or understood or regarded. We don’t want special treatment. We don’t want special freedoms. We don’t want these safe zones. We don’t want trigger warnings. We just want equality.”
Haring-Smith said she believes students don’t think they’re being heard because they don’t see immediate results.
“Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet. Which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work on it. Which doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it,” she said. “But I understand their frustration.”
Haring-Smith said she wants to be sure not to generalize individual experiences.
“I think you’re going to find African-American students who say ‘that’s not my experience,'” she said. “And I think you’d find the same thing with our student in a wheelchair. I think you’d find the same thing with our student who is a small person. … You’d find the same thing with our athletes who say, ‘Faculty don’t think I’m smart because I’m an athlete.’ We all have something. When you walk into a board meeting, and somebody starts with ‘Gentlemen.’ We all live with it, and it’s unfortunate, and we all work against it,” Haring-Smith said. “But I think you have to keep in mind that you could ask the same questions of students who are not students of color and get similar responses based on other characteristics that they share. Gay students, Jewish students. I think the important thing is not to generalize.”
She said diversity is a chief concern of senior administration.
“I would say we spend 25 percent of our time talking about diversity. Because it’s not just racism,” said Haring-Smith. “The college is doing more than the students will ever be aware of.”
Haring-Smith pointed to several initiatives on campus to address prejudice, including the Charles West Fellows, and stage productions like “Intersect,” which was written and directed by communication arts professor William Cameron, and portrayed the experiences of W&J students.
With a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Haring-Smith formed the Mellon Fellows, 15 faculty members who are working to understand how students learn. An important part of that process, said Haring-Smith, is identifying ways to combat inherent racism. She said faculty who are knowledgeable in social issues will help educate their peers.
“There’s a lot of diversity training going on among faculty. The Mellon Fellows are working on faculty who have years of ingrained thinking,” she said. “It’s not a different place. It’s a different time.”
Eva Chatterjee-Sutton, vice president and dean of student life, said the social media post highlighted the need for programs that help students relate to each other.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” she said. “To that end, we’ll accelerate some of our work.”
In addition to forums, speakers and point-of-view discussions that allow students to share their perspective, the department is working to develop a system that would allow anonymous reports of bias. The system would be similar to the reporting process for sexual assault already in place on campus.
Chatterjee-Sutton said these initiatives are intended to create a culture of supportive dialogue.
“More people are getting involved,” she said. “Several of us have an open-door policy and want to see all students supported. This (incident) highlighted that this is something we have to pay attention to.”
Chatterjee-Sutton, Haring-Smith and Rueter agreed change takes time.
“We’re getting students from all over the place. … They may have no experience with the cultural norms that are expected here,” said Rueter. “Part of the education experience is what these students are doing, which is saying, ‘Hey, this is making me uncomfortable. What’s being done about it?’ That’s part of the educational experience. Which is not to say these individual students’ experiences are not important or valid. From their point of view, is the college doing enough? Apparently not. Are we doing a lot? I would say yes. But we’re a microcosm of a greater society. We’re probably never going to escape some of these things. Can we try to combat the tides that are pushing against us? Yes. And will we continue? Yes.”