Members of American University’s Black Student Alliance are planning to protest incidents of discrimination and the Administration’s lack of aggressive response following an incident in which a black freshman had a banana tossed at her in a campus dorm.
According to the Washington Post the incident involving freshman, occurred in the early morning hours of September 8th in the Anderson dormitory. She reported that two white male students tossed bananas at her through her open dorm room door. On the same night, a second black student found a rotten banana outside her door and an obscene drawing on the white board attached to her door.
Although the University knows the identities of the students involved they have suspended them and have opted to proceed through the student conduct process that condemns discrimination and discriminatory harassment. Additional action includes a campus-wide town hall meeting where students can talk.
AU issued the following statement.
We understand that members of our community feel hurt by an incident that happened in a residence hall and separate allegations of racially biased behavior.
We’re working with student leaders and others in the community concerned about this. At 1:00 pm today, we are holding a Town Hall in Butler Board Room to listen to student groups and the community at large about the climate, discuss the facts as we know them, and provide an update on the incident. The entire AU community is invited to participate.
Regarding the known facts, on September 8, an incident that was not characterized as bias related occurred in a residence hall and was reported to Residence Life staff. The Dean of Students office reached out to the affected party and to the perpetrators. Based on the accounts provided, the DOS filed conduct charges, which are currently being adjudicated through the Student Conduct process. The Department of Public Safety was notified and conducted its own investigation.
Actions can and do have impact beyond their intent and that was the case here. The University condemns discrimination and discriminatory harassment and all violations are handled through the Student Conduct process.
Regarding allegations of other incidents, the Dean of Students and Department of Public Safety are continuing their investigations. We want to find out more and hope students can be helpful in providing additional details that will help us understand what has happened. If you have information, please contact the Dean of Students at [email protected] or 202-885-3300 or the Department of Public Safety at 202-885-2527.
The University says they understand the incidents but do not characterize them as bias. So what motivated these incidents? A harmless prank? Boys just being boys? Students interviewed reported these incidents are not one-time occurrences and black students are not the only ones targeted.
In the real world, this would be a hate crime and an assault,” Ma’at Sargeant, an AU sophomore and the president of the Black Student Alliance, said of the banana incident. “This kind of thing has been happening at AU for years. Last year, people wrote the n-word on black students’ doors and put up Trump stickers on the doors of Hispanic students. This is not just a one-time thing.”
If a University has documented incidents of students of color being targeted but choose not act punitively, the message is clear, these students are not valued. Instead of holding a town hall meeting hoping for a good outcome perhaps expelling the students involved would be more effective. It would send a clear message that incidents of this nature will not be tolerated.