In early October, NCC had another racial bias incident occur on campus.
It involved a male freshman resident. On a whiteboard hanging outside the student’s dorm, he wrote, “Countdown to Halloween Costume Idea #6: A Founding Father. Needs: Be a rich, white, land-owning male. A plantation (slaves included).” The message included a stick figure drawing of the costume.
The incident first garnered attention on social media. A student tweeted a photo of the message and their disappointment in it.
Kevin McCarthy, dean of students and a member of the Bias Incident Response Team, said that although the team receives many reports in regard to bias incidents and microaggressions, it was surprising to have such an event occur.
“But I’m also grateful that we get those reports so that (we) can follow up on that and hopefully educate folks who are doing those things or acting in a way that we would not want them to be,” said McCarthy.
Students, however, had a different reaction. When Co-President of Black Student Association (BSA) Alexis Reese, ’20, found out about the incident via Twitter, she was “livid.”
“Obviously, the board said ‘costume idea number six.’ So my thing was, well, how many ignorant things have you put out there already?” said Reese.
Despite her anger, Reese said she wasn’t entirely surprised by the timing of the event. In fact, Reese said she was almost waiting for something like this to happen.
“I think that black students (and) students of color are on guard for people who are going to be culture appropriating and insensitive to different costumes,” said Reese.
Surprised or not, students of color on campus decided to hold a demonstration about the effects of such a message.
Dadourcha Jean Pierre, ’22, is a member of the BSA. She also helped organize the demonstration.
“The whole goal of the march was to target students and not faculty,” said Pierre. “We realize what faculty have done and what things they have put in place for us as a student body on campus. We did not want to target them in any kind of way.”
At the demonstration, students marched from Championship Plaza to the library and ended in front of Jefferson Plaza. At the Plaza, students proceeded to have a “die-in.”
Photo by Lauren Kainrath
“The main purpose was to show people that the reason we’re doing this is because (students) need to see this,” said Pierre. “I (felt) that we need to make them feel uncomfortable in their own space. That’s the reason why we chose to lay down for 13 minutes, to represent the 13th Amendment.”
Reese said the demonstration was a way for students of color to assert their right to be on a harassment-free campus. “We as students of color … are not going to tolerate this anymore,” said Reese.
Dorothy Pleas, director of multicultural affairs, said that faculty and staff were incredibly supportive and proud of the demonstrators.
“We spoke to the students afterward and just told them how proud we were of (them for) using their voices and sharing their experiences,” said Pleas.
McCarthy said that the amount of bravery it took for students to organize and compose their message was truly impactful to the campus community.
In attempting to show their support for students of color, members of the administration attended a BSA meeting on Oct. 12. Kimberley Sluis, vice president of student affairs, Steve Weaver, assistant dean of students, Dorothy Pleas and several area hall directors attended the meeting.
The administrators and area hall directors attended the meeting in a “hearing capacity.” Administrators listened to student reactions and ideas for what the college could do in the future to limit these incidents.
Continuing the diversity and inclusion training the college started this year and a zero-tolerance policy that includes microaggressions have been put in place. Some students, including Pierre, feel there should also be fines put in place for individuals who break the zero-tolerance policy.
For Reese, administrators showing up and hearing ideas is nice, but action needs to be taken. Most importantly, Reese wants students to have a deterrent for attempting these types of race attacks. However, North Central is bound by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal policy that maintains the anonymity of students and their records.
“The spirit of the law is basically that the educational record that the college has for a student belongs to that student,” said McCarthy. FERPA makes it illegal for the school to release a student’s identity and the consequences they face when breaking school policies.
Reese thinks this act is inherently unfair in situations where there is a victim or targeted individuals.
“If you’re bold enough to be racist, you should be bold enough to have your consequences be public,” said Reese. “I feel like if (consequences are) not going to be public, that it’s not going to create a deterrent.”
As of right now, the administration is working to find ways to limit the occurrence of any bias incidents. A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force has been created. There is also a new, mandatory online training for all first-year students on diversity, equity inclusion training.
More importantly, the college is rolling out a program of presentations led by Pleas, McCarthy and Rebecca Gordon, the assistant vice president for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
The presentations will focus on what the college’s policies are in regard to harassment and discrimination and what typical sanctions for those look like.
“We’re going to take that policy on the road and try to go to numerous different organizations (and) have some open forums for the campus community to be able to come and hear some of that,” said McCarthy.
Like the BSA meeting, these forums will also allow members of the NCC community to provide feedback for ways NCC can make their policies better.
Students who encounter or witness a bias incident can reach out to Campus Safety, Pleas and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. There is also a form available on Cardinal Net that can be filled out and turned in at any point in time.
Noah Cordoba contributed to this article.
