What you missed in Bellingham this summer and last year
By Julia Berkman
Content Warning: This article references sexual assault.
What’s up, Western? A lot has happened since the last time you picked me up off the newsstand.
For instance, Eric Bostrom, Red Square hate speech spewer, and potential city council electee, garnered 19 percent of Whatcom County votes in the primary election. Farmworkers in Sumas on temporary H-2A visas faced eviction after a fellow worker fell into a coma and died, leading the remaining folks to protest the unjust working conditions of their employers.
Even the weather saw fit to screw people over across the country with not one, not two, but three major hurricanes within a week of each other. If you’ve breathed in Bellingham for the past month, you’d know that the world is literally aflame and we’re stuck in the reality where everything went wrong.
Here on Western’s campus, usual stories of sports and society took a backseat to two glaring headlines about the school’s lax policy on admitting and hiring sexual predators. One negligent case ignited a movement among Western Resident Advisers so large it made it from local news to news that crossed state lines.
Emily Gaston, an RA in Highland Hall, had her dorm room broken into by former assistant track coach Tanner Boyd, who had a similar felony on his record already. Gaston was given a gag order by an employee of University Residences, and this didn’t sit well with any of the RAs across campus.
Gaston’s gag order was just one symptom of the overarching problem the Be LibeRAted movement faced. RA monthly pay was $90, far too low for their own personal expenses. When RAs attempted to contact administrators about issues they were met with a feedback loop and never given clear answers.
In the end, inefficient management tipped the scales for Western RAs; the lack of guidance from administrators was seriously affecting their residents. Thus, the Be LibeRAted movement was born. RAs organized protests, sit ins and online campaigns in order to spread their message. The movement continues on into this year and former RA Annie Gordon has been elected AS VP for Student Life.
Admissions, too, was under fire last year after readmitting Connor Griesemer, a student who was previously suspended in 2015 for sexually assaulting a fellow Western student at a party. He returned to Western in the spring of 2017 following a 30-day stint in jail after a reduced plea.
While administration held off on readmitting Griesemer until his victim had graduated, hundreds of current Western students voiced their concern. Dean of Students Ted Pratt was under fire for describing the assault as “a bad decision influenced by alcohol,” in an appeal decision written to Griesemer. Given all the happenings, it seems that something’s rotten in the state of Washington.
But… it can’t all be bad, right? “It” is the highest grossing horror movie! The sun shone for almost 40 days straight! The C-Lots are now paved! With Carver Gym finally casting a fairly complete shadow over the walk to Red Square, Western itself is sliding into home plate just in time for the start of classes. Sabah Randhawa, Western’s president, entered his second year by denouncing the pending end of DACA and reiterating Western’s commitment to undocumented students. Unfortunately, that still leaves DACA student employees without a set way of being compensated for their work once the program is cut in the future.
Students on campus have also petitioned higher-ups to create a College of Ethnic Studies. This college would house majors that focus on intensive study of marginalized identities. This petition was brought forth in addition to the long-standing demand to rehouse the Ethnic Student Center in a larger space. Right now, the ESC is an umbrella for 17 different clubs, who are all housed in a space no larger than a lecture hall. Thankfully, during the last AS election cycle, students gave the Multicultural Center Construction a resounding “Yes!” and it is currently in the works.
ABOVE: After two years of work, the renovation of Carver Gym has been completed. Photo by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review.
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Featured photo by Ricky Roth // AS Review.