Racist incident reported in residence hall

An on-campus student has been the target of a racist incident inside one of NCC’s residence halls, according to NCC interim, President Donna Carroll.

In an email sent out on Thursday, Carroll said a Black student received a note slid underneath their door inside Rall Residence Hall on Monday Night. The note contained an expletive and racial slur.    

🚨Breaking News (graphic content)🚨 North Central College is investigating a racist note somebody allegedly slipped into a Black student’s dorm room that said, “F*** you N****”… Developing story pic.twitter.com/GOzDMLwZwb

— Fredlyn Pierre Louis (@FredlynTV) Feb. 9, 2023

The racist incident was first reported on Wednesday by the Black Student Association (BSA). In a statement posted to their Instagram, BSA condemned the racial incident. 

BSA’s executive board said they were tired of witnessing this behavior on campus, in a statement sent to NCClinked.

“We are hurt, sad, and disappointed, but most of all we are tired. Tired of being witness to the same racist behavior. Tired of not feeling safe,” said BSA President Morgan Harmon, ‘23. “We are seniors in college and have seen these racist incidents since our freshman year in 2019.”

College’s response

Additionally, Carroll said she had extended her personal apology to the targeted student, and laid out steps the college is taking in addressing the racist incident. These steps include:

• Campus Safety conducting an investigation, and working closely with Naperville Police.
• An increased presence of Campus Safety inside Rall Residence Hall.
• Office of Student Affairs and the president’s cabinet working with NCC’s Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT).

On Wednesday night, Student Affairs, alongside Campus Safety and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, hosted a meeting with residents of Rall Residence Hall so the targeted student could share her story, and residents could express how they felt about the incident.

College administrators and staff members present let residents at the meeting know there would be a grace period for those responsible for the racist incident to come forward and confess. In the event that no one steps forward, Residence Life plans to start it’s investigation. During which time, interrogations of suspected individuals will occur.

Furthermore, Residence Life has asked anyone with information about the individual who committed the incident to speak with an area hall director, a resident assistant or utilize NCC’s online reporting tools.

More needs to be done

The affected student, who spoke with NCClinked, blames the college’s administration. She believes they have enabled behaviors like this for so long.

“People feel comfortable doing these things because they know nothing is gonna happen,” she said. 

The student has filed bias incident reports in the past for other instances. Specifically, these include racial slurs written on residence door decorations and a student-athlete mocking nonbinary individuals. These reports have remained unaddressed, according to the student. Moreover, she would like the college to implement consequences that have an impact.

“Incidents like these aren’t new…we need to let North Central know they still have something to do.” 

Podcast Editor Fredlyn Pierre Louis and news writer Brianna Eloiza contributed to this story.