*TW: sexual assault, racial violence, police brutality, military, drug use, general violence.
Dr. Fiorentino, what will it take? Your current students are physically, mentally and emotionally tired. Your past students are still hurting, and your future students are not even prepared for what is about to come. So, I ask with a heavy and frustrated heart, mind and soul: what will it take for you and you higher-ups to genuinely care about us?
I attended WCU from August 2015 to December 2019. I have always been and will remain a proud Golden Ram; I bleed purple and gold. I am proud because of my professors; lasting friendships; personal, professional, and political growth; the student orgs I was a part of; and being a Peer Educator for the Center for Trans and Queer Advocacy, which has led me to amazing places. However, I am not proud of you or your administration. And here is why:
I was there when 45 came to campus in April of 2016. Do you know what I saw? White people yelling slurs. Students were protesting, yelling and crying. I vividly remember a white woman telling me and my Black friends that they are sick of paying for immigrants and my tuition and that she does not have any money. Which is hilarious because a) white people did not originate here and are the original invaders — I mean immigrants — of the world, b) it showed that even poor white people will choose the side of white supremacy even if it meant staying poor, and c) the least white people could do after colonization, slavery, Jim Crow and overall systemic racism is pay a few dollars in taxes so people can go to school. Moving on, what stood out the most to me was that instead of having WCU’s Public Safety “protecting” us, it was borough police. Our own officers, who are to “serve” and “protect” us were “protecting” a racist, fascist, sexist, white man instead.
There was a townhall a few days later, held for students to express their feelings and share their experience. Did you hear us? There was an uprising in sexual assault, someone in a hijab was spit on in an attack, the number of slurs passed around were intensified, students were harassed while navigating campus, and so many more horrific things. I stood in the Sykes theatre and cried because I could not understand what any of us did to deserve that. I could not understand why you did not offer better support services, temporarily cancel classes, and certainly did not protect the people that needed it the most. Anyway, this was not enough.
Fall of 2016, a sexual assault happened on campus and an email was sent to the entire university blaming it on alcohol. Instead of speaking against predators, admonishing rape, calling for an end to toxic masculinity and hiring people to work towards this goal, you blamed it on alcohol. The Ram Statue was then covered in flyers as a protest and instead of enforcing any actual safety precautions, hiring more people for the counseling center, creating more (instead of taking away) confidential resources, and any other kind of effective and helpful actions, the flyers were removed. By the time I graduated, there were no real confidential resources. There was no acknowledgment of the dangers of going to police after assaults. And once when I asked you directly if more lighting could be added to the Academic Quad because I was scared of walking past all the dark bushes at night from the library, you laughed it off. As if my safety as a Black woman was a joke, you told me that you would take a walk around and that I could be your light person. Still not enough.
Fall 2018, cameras were found in gender-neutral bathrooms. At this time, I was an active member of SAGA, Shades of the Rainbow, and a Peer Educator for the Center for Trans and Queer Advocacy. You would’ve thought that since gender-neutral bathrooms are often frequented by the LGBTQIA+ community that there would have been more efforts placed to not only ensure the safety of everyone on campus but the most vulnerable group in particular. But nothing was said to directly address us. In fact, it was suggested, amongst other things, that students reach out to Public Safety. News flash: WCU Public Safety has never been helpful, particularly for marginalized people. In case none of your advisors have made you aware, policing is dangerous to LGBTQIA+ communities on and off campus.
Speaking of Public Safety, for four and a half years Black students have complained about our racial experiences with Public Safety. We have asked why they heavily police South Side more than The Village and East Village, why they attend on-campus events focused on people of color instead of the parties with white students and opiates on High Street. Before I left, I attended a town hall with Public Safety, and one of your officers said that he will treat people how he is treated. This is in response to a student asking why the officers aren’t understanding of and capable of handling the fact that many people of color, Black people in particular are not comfortable with police, and we have no respect for police because they hunt and kill us. Tell me, do you think we feel safer knowing that your officers cannot handle a hostile situation without getting their feelings hurt? Did Dr. Zeb report this to you because he was there also. Did Associate Director of Police Operations Captain William A. Morris or anyone else present report this to you, or was that not a red flag? Surprise, surprise, even if you heard about it, it clearly was not enough.
2020 has been tragic, the past few months in particular. Black people all over have been in mourning. We once again protested state violence against Black people during a global pandemic. We witnessed police all over the country tear gassing cities for no reason. When I went to vote, I saw what appeared to be the National Guard deploying into my city and sheriff busses, probably waiting to transport “rioters.” We all knew it was happening. It was impossible to miss. And what did you do? You sent a “Reflection on Current Events” and a horribly worded email to alert us of the National Guard staying on campus. Yes, I know there was not much of a choice, but why didn’t you think to assure us in the first email? Who were you trying to comfort? Or did you not realize this as a problem because the state is a threat to us and not you?
How much anger, frustration, pain, and grief caused by WCUPA will be enough for you to create real changes? What do we have to do? Would it help if I offered solutions? Keep in mind, they only seem impossible if you are not willing to be on the right side of justice.
As per your “reflection,” here is what you can actually do to show support and solidarity. Redirect Public Safety funds to Black and brown organizations on campus. You can also send some of that money towards a larger student space for the LGBTQIA+ students. You can redirect their funds towards hiring more Black and Brown faculty, staff, and administrators and fire the racist faculty, staff and administrators. You could redirect their finds towards more affordable gender inclusive housing. That money could go towards the remaining bills of the Black students you claim to care about. A mandatory class that teaches about racism, sexism, classism and other varying systems of oppression at an entry level would also work wonders. Fortunately for you, Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies already exists, so now you just need to make it a requirement because your students are sick and tired of arguing with and defending ourselves against the racist, classist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. classmates we are forced to engage with.
As an added bonus, instead of using incorrect language for the LGBTQIA+ community, spend some time in a WGS course or pick up some learning resources from either the Center for Trans and Queer Advocacy, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, or the WGS department so that at minimum, you can at least say the right things even if they aren’t being done. Invite your Public Safety folks to the lesson as well because their language during the townhall definitely needed fixing.
I have listed my *major* discrepancies, there is no denying any of these things. I have also offered solutions. So, tell me. Dr. Fiorentino and other administrators, is it enough, or does the student body have to continue to suffer?
Nahje Royster, M.P.H candidate at La Salle University. nr852569@wcupa.edu