By Stephen George
The U of L chapter of the NAACP held a press conference last Wednesday to discuss the latest race-related incident on campus. The incident, which occurred on March 27 in Ekstrom Library, is the latest in a string of possibly racially motivated incidents dating back at least three years.
“This latest racial incident at the university only reinforces that this campus is a hostile environment for African-American students,” said NAACP president James Sye. “It shows a pattern of unfair treatment that African-American students are subjected to at this university. That is why this supposed place of higher learning has become a hostile environment for African-American students.”
The incident involved Morrisena Chung, an African-American student who is of Jamaican descent; two white female students, and Ekstrom Library administrators. The two unidentified white female students approached Ms. Chung, who was studying in one of the study rooms in the library. They asked how long she would be there, and she responded by giving a time she would be finished. The two students then contacted a library administrator, who called the Department of Public Safety and reported that a vagrant was occupying the study room.
“We call Public Safety all the time because we do get people from the outside coming in, and we have lots of different types of incidents,” said university librarian Hannelore Rader, who was the library representative at the press conference. “The study rooms are really always for more than one person. That’s our procedure, and we followed that.”
When DPS arrived, according to Sye, they “asked what the problem was, very forcefully and rudely in Ms. Chung’s opinion. At no time was her ID asked for by officers on the scene. It was obvious the woman (was) studying because her books were spread out on the study table in the study room. It was also noted that some other study rooms were available at that time.” The two officers, one of Caucasian descent and one of Asian descent, escorted Chung from the library.
“There are clear procedural violations by the Department of Public Safety and Ekstrom Library staff,” said Sye, “those procedural errors being they did not do any investigation to find out the actual facts.”
DPS was not present at the press conference, though they were invited, according to Sye. A representative declined to discuss the case, as it is still under investigation. DPS also declined to comment on the longstanding racial tensions at U of L, some of which have stemmed from incidents involving the department.
Pan-African Studies professor Ricky Jones spoke of “numerous cases of student harassment by the Department of Public Safety on campus, especially with African-American students who, at this juncture, feel like they can’t congregate in groups greater than 5 to10 without DPS being present.”
There have been at least two other documented incidents in the last year involving discrimination against African-American students by DPS. The first, which occurred on October 6, 2001, involved two African-American students who were sitting in their car waiting for it to warm up in a university parking lot. According to a flier issued at the press conference, “the DPS officer questioned them as to what they were doing in the parking lot, accused the students of smoking marijuana, and told them they looked suspicious.” The officer was later reprimanded for his conduct.
The second incident, which occurred on November 16, 2001, took place at a party on campus and involved the use of excessive force by DPS. According to the flier, “the incident entailed two African-American students being taken out of a party in chokeholds, and the other student being put in handcuffs for protesting the treatment that was taking place. Over 17 students filed complaints on their (the three students’) behalf. The investigation is still pending.”
Sye said that he would like a watchdog for DPS, perhaps something administrative. “We’d like to see some form of checks and balances in the Department of Public Safety,” he said. “In the event that there is an incident between African-Americans and the department, they have to be held accountable for their actions, just like any other police department should be held accountable for their actions.”
University Provost and soon-to-be acting president Carol Garrison said that the administration is working to change discriminatory policies to dispel aggravated race relations on campus and to avoid further incidents such as this. “While U of L itself cannot prevent racial incidents, the university will react quickly and decisively to any form of discrimination,” she said. “The university is modifying the student code of conduct specifically to designate all forms of discriminatory harassment as violations under the code.”
Dr. Jones pointed out that this latest incident should not take precedent over the overall state of race relations on campus. “I don’t think we need to reduce this discussion to this one incident,” he said. “I think what we’re seeing on campus now is an overall loss of faith in the university’s administration by black students in particular, and I think the general student population, in some quarters.”
Jones continued, “I think the administration has done some things that are very positive, but we simply have not done enough. And until students perceive that enough has been done, I think we’re in trouble.”
Students present at the press conference were able to voice their opinions as well. One African-American student proposed that instead of continuing to hire more personnel and appoint more advisory committees, the administration should consider firing those who are not doing their job properly. Another initiated the idea of a diversity training program for DPS officers. One faculty member suggested outside intervention from the Louisville community, while a student proposed a student review board to deal with incidents related to race.
But the underlying feeling was that many changes must be made in order to improve the current situation. While some called for more African-Americans in administrative roles, another explained that she wants to be seen not as black or white, but simply as a student.
“A lot has been said about the administration,” Dr. Garrison said. “The administration doesn’t always absolutely make the right decision, respond in the right way, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not trying to, and it also doesn’t mean that we’re not good intentioned. We are available. I have an open door. Any student, faculty, or staff member who wants to see me, who wants to dialogue with me on these issues, has concerns, I’m open to talk to you.”
Dr. Jones made it clear that the options for compromise have nearly been exhausted. “I think there’s a high level of frustration, tension, and angst that’s not going to be resolved until key people on campus are really ready to sit down with students and engage them in a genuine way,” he said. “At this stage, we’re open to anything that will make the situation better. I think the general feeling is that the black community is all out of options.”
As the press conference came to a close, Dr. Mordean Taylor-Archer, Vice Provost for Diversity and Racial Equality, summed up the overall atmosphere of the relations between the administration and the African-American community. “In some ways, I am a part of the administration,” she said of her advisory position to Dr. Garrison. “But I want to be very clear that I stand on the side of what is right and what is just, and that is uncompromising. I do serve as advisory to the administration, but I am not wavering in terms of justice. It’s also important for us to know that as we try to move the university forward, we need to move it forward not in terms of glossing over the issues, but getting to the root of the problem…any forms of racism, discrimination, harassment is like a cancer: we have to cut it out. That’s what we are about. That’s what the administration is about.
“That’s what the students are about.”
