A number of multicultural student groups at American University are protesting the administration’s handling of race-related incidents. Students are concerned about racist social media posts and Islamaphobic posters recently seen on campus.
AU student Kiersten Gillette-Pierce, who is involved in student government and the Black Student Alliance, said the administration is “pushing diversity,” but not doing enough to actually help minority students on campus.
“Right now, we are talking at each other,” Gillette-Pierce told the AU student newspaper The Eagle. “It could be that maybe we don’t know the avenues to talk, or that the administration doesn’t care,” she said. “Stop ignoring us and make some tangible changes. Stop pushing diversity and not pushing retention.”
Decontae Torriente, vice president of BSA, agreed, “AU likes to pretend it’s a very inclusive community, and they have taken steps in other areas to make it inclusive.” However, he feels that “AU is very exclusive in the sense that it doesn’t do all that it can to make sure that students of color feel welcome and safe on this campus.”
Torriente is also involved in a student movement called “The Darkening,” which aims to raise awareness of racial injustices. The group held a protest on campus earlier this year in response to discriminatory comments posted on Yik Yak.
One student tweeted a screenshot of a particularly inflammatory post that read, “It’s obviously racist, but I really don’t like 99% of the black people I meet. At least I’m honest.”
This is my school AMERICAN UNIVERSITY y’all SPREAD THIS NOW pic.twitter.com/Ha3o3rbzbp
— #LaquanMcDonald (@femme_meme) March 11, 2015
More recently, students saw posters cropping up with Islamaphobic messages and the hashtag “#StopTheJihadOnCampus.”
Aman Abdelhamid, president of the Muslim Student Association, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the appearance of the posters.
“We come here thinking AU is a progressive campus, and we still feel unsafe,” she told The Eagle.
It is unclear whether the posters were actually put up by AU students, as the same ones were spotted on the nearby campuses of Georgetown and George Washington University. A statement from the university condemned the posters, insisting that they were part of an outside campaign and not connected to the school.
In an interview with the student newspaper, university president Neil Kerwin said the general education curriculum is under review, and future requirements may be updated to include coursework related to race and multiculturalism.
American University student Josh Singer told Red Alert Politics that another race-related protest occurred this past fall when multiple student groups protested the working conditions of the “mostly black workforce” for the dining hall and other locations around campus.
Singer said Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors is scheduled to come to campus in early January to talk with the student body about her experiences in the movement and how to apply them to AU.
“I view this as a response to the voices on campus demanding that their claims be heard, and it is their hope that it will lead to progress going forward,” he said.
