By Erasmus Baxter
For many, the racist threats posted on YikYak in fall 2015 were a shocking display of bigotry. However, in the last student climate survey, conducted in 2010, nearly eight percent of minority students at Western reported experiencing harassment in the last year. A further 16.8 percent of minority students reported being singled out in class for their identity.
In a recent incident at the end of August 2016, students in “WWU New Students 2016,” a university-run Facebook group for freshmen, were confronted by students jokingly referring to Kappa dorms as #KKK, mocking people with mental illnesses and calling those who objected a slur toward gay people.
While some students on the group condemned the comments, many dismissed them as jokes with no real impact. University officials saw the issues as a result of individual actors, and took no actions to proactively educate students in the group about underlying issues of race and the impact such comments could have in alienating minority students.
The Incident
Madeline Zeiger was a freshman who planned to live in Kappa.
“People started joking that Kappa is like a frat/sorority and that our frat was called kappa kappa kappa, or KKK,” Zeiger said via Facebook. “[Student 1] made a really offensive post talking about how the KKK is the best frat at wwu and that they’re better than everyone.”
Another student commented on Student 1’s post: “You’ve gained my friendship from this post [Student 1]. #kappakappakappafrat #kkk,” and referred to a student who objected to the post as a “lesbianist.”
A screenshot of a Facebook group chat for people planning on living in the kappa dorms also shows that a member of the group had changed her username to kappa kappa Kendal, employing the KKK acronym.
Student Response
Zeiger said that the jokes made her second-guess her choice to live in Kappa because she was worried not liking racist jokes would prevent her from fitting in. However, she was willing to forgive Student 1.
“I’ve met [Student 1]. He’s actually a really cool guy. Was what he said stupid and racist and offensive? Yes. Does that make him a bad person? Absolutely not. Doing or saying something bad does not make you a bad person.”
The majority of posts in response to the incident were from Kappa members asking for forgiveness, and claiming that people did not mean to offend. Overall, they indicated a greater concern about being labeled racist then about how the climate created by the jokes might affect minority students.
Zeiger thinks [Student 1] was just uninformed. She made a post on August 24 with a photo of her and her pug and said that generalizing everyone who lived in Kappa was “*almost* as bad as the original racist comments!”
When another student made a post pointing out that the effects of racism extend beyond hurt feelings they were told to “chill” and “just appreciate the pic of dogs and cats instead of calling everyone racist.”
For his part, [Student 1] posted an apology to the “butthurt,” and said he wanted to “make the class of 2020 great again.” He also messaged some people who commented on his post to apologize, and said “I just don’t want people to write me off as a bigot before I’ve even met them.”
However, another post in the group that drew many comments asked for people to explain “how saying #kkk is racism?”
“No one initially said they were racist for saying it as a joke. People were saying that it is HIGHLY INSENSITIVE bc it is HIGHLY INSENSITIVE TO MAKE A JOKE ABOUT THE OPPRESSION OF PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE ME,” responded another student.
Despite this and other responses, the poster continued to claim that they did not understand how saying #kkk was racist.
University Officials’ Response
Admissions office employees in charge of administering the group saw the incident as a result of individual bad actors, according to emails acquired through a public records request.
Admins in the group deleted the original “Kappa Kappa Kappa” thread and blocked two of the posters, including Student 1, from the Facebook group. They also posted a code of conduct for the group.
A potential threat in the comment thread was referred to the Equal Opportunity Office and the chief of university police for consideration before it was determined that it was just a meme. Emails about the incident were sent up the university hierarchy, reaching Eileen Coughlin, the Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services.
Michael Sledge, Assistant Dean of Students, reached out to one of the students who was attacked by commenters to inform her of resources for reporting complaints to the Equal Opportunity Office or campus police, and student rights under Title IX.
Sledge also referred the incident to the Equal Opportunity Office for consideration. However, in an email in October, Mohammed Cato, the Assistant Director of the Equal Opportunity Office, said that his office did not handle the incident.
Admissions office employees also discussed calling the banned students to discuss expectations for conduct.
What’s Missing
Absent from the emails obtained is any discussion of the impact these comments could have on minority students coming to Western or considering applying. There was also no discussion of offering resources for educating students about racism and its impacts.
A multimedia designer with the Office of Admissions even advocated against removing one of the offending students from the group, because he hadn’t made any direct threats toward anyone. They also noted: “This incident, which seems to occur right around this time every year, is a reminder that we need a better mechanism to deal with these situations.”
Admissions counselor Brian Swanson responded to the comment thread asking about the KKK by encouraging students to explore sociology as a GUR.
“These are great things to reflect on and we encourage you all to engage in respectful dialogues on this subject. This being the Internet though, it is not always the best medium to engage in these delicate and nuanced conversations,” Swanson commented. “I am not here to silence any voices I just want to gently remind you all that it is hard to communicate your experience and beliefs over the Internet to others.”
In response, a student posted a screenshot of Swanson’s Facebook profile highlighting that he had set his name to be pronounced “DANGK MEEMZ.” An admin has since turned off comments for the post.
Well done!