Someone needs to be held accountable

“Before being admitted to NCC, I knew little about the school or its location, but after researching it, I became fascinated and wanted to learn more,” said Ian Adipo, ’24.

Many, like Adipo, were excited to come to NCC and perfect their crafts in the 42nd wealthiest town in Illinois or the 4th best city to live in America. It wasn’t exciting, however, when watching Chicagoland figures like Mr. Ernest Crim III, a teacher at Joliet Central High School, upload a TikTok video showing Naperville’s racist past. 50 years ago, Naperville used to be a sundown town, and nobody was held accountable then. Similarly, the campus is not holding anybody accountable right now.

To remind you, prejudices and stereotypes were still issues before George Floyd and are still issues now.

Where are we now?

These prejudices never disappeared, they are just hiding within society. Well, some of them at least.

“Campus-wide, those who are explicitly racist, anti-queer, sexist, ableist and even have committed rapes, are allowed to maintain positions of power, or to continue to act without proper education to the error of their ways, consequences or adequate protections to those harmed… I was disappointed with the lack of accountability in ResLife,” said Sophia Hiatt, ‘24.

Additionally, many wonder why there’s a box to click on within ResLife’s roommate search for those comfortable with living with an international student. So, those who don’t click that box, lose the chance to expand their mindsets. What’s even worse is that even though international students attend this school, they become segregated for their differences.

“I think that being in a place with an international student can give a different perspective, it’s a personal preference,” said Om Sharma, ’25.

Recent incidents

Let us not forget Angel Tovar, ’23, who received an abhorrent message in 2023. The reporting of this message forced the school to issue a statement declaring they do not tolerate this behavior. But still, even this year, hate propaganda has escalated.

The Office of Student Affairs evidenced this via an email with the subject line, “Hate propaganda found on campus.” They found hate speech flyers on multiple cars in the lower lot J on January 17. 

The message was “Hate has no place at North Central College.” Additionally, the email acknowledges that we are entering a highly charged political season, where hate-charged rhetoric will be around us. And still, the campus has not addressed what actions it has taken against those responsible for distributing the flyers.

“As a queer disabled woman, I have seen firsthand how ResLife, Campus Safety and other students can sit through a whole DEI training, and then turn around and make the spaces they enter extremely hostile for marginalized communities, without consequence,” said Hiatt.

Residence Life also sent an email about hate speech. They found hate speech on March 11, written on a common area ResRec whiteboard. Written in the email was “Before you write something hateful, please consider that there are people on our campus who face implicit and explicit bias every day.”

Contradictions

The tone of the entire email appears to prioritize politeness over accountability. Contrasting our student handbook which states that “students will be held accountable for actions or activities that are inconsistent or incompatible with the spirit of the community standards set forth in the Student Handbook, whether such actions take place on or off campus.”

Familiarly, we have no answers to what ResLife is doing about this comment. ResLife is also known as the organization that “fosters safe, student-centered communities that focus on individual student needs.” When do the students affected by ResLife get to hold them accountable?

Reality

The truth is we may never get those answers. It’s easy to understand that NCC organizations don’t want to create panic, but it leads to this. Just as much as nothing feels satisfied, nothing feels enforced. The campus body needs to have someone held accountable.

“I have met plenty of wonderful, hardworking people who work to make the campus a safer, more ethical place, both within and outside of ResLife. Thankfully, there have been small changes that are going in the right direction, such as the recent addition of Cortney to the Title IX office. But there is only so much these people can do when systemic policies and others in power are either apathetic to the needs of marginalized students, or blatantly ignore the calls to change. If harm isn’t met with accountability, we’ll see these problems repeating for years to come,” said Hiatt.