Fall 2016
What Happened? Interpersonal Interaction Surrounding Presidential Election [Closed]
On December 5, 2016 the Dean of Students office received information from a Hispanic/Latina student who reports having experienced biased comments and remarks about her racial and ethnic identities since the conclusion of the Presidential election. The person accused of making these statements is also a student.
How has the Bias Advisory and Response Team responded?
BART co-chairs were informed of the incident and it was shared with the team. At this point it is in the hands of the Dean of Students. An investigation by our Dean of Students into this report is underway and the student conduct process will be initiated as appropriate at the conclusion of the investigation. Given the interpersonal nature of this incident and final exams coming up, BART is not planning to call a campus-wide forum unless we receive strong interest from the community to do so.
What Happened? Classroom Chalkboard Photo [Closed and resolved]
On December 5, 2016 prior to a 10am class in Alter Hall, a student reported and shared a photo of drawings and wording on a chalkboard. The quality of the photo made it difficult to fully assess the incident, but there was a specific anti-Semitic comment made that stated, "They jewed me." Other images and words seemed to refer to someone who is not identified as a Xavier student as being racist.
The items that we lack clarity on showed an image of flying saucers with the word "aliens" titled above them. There were a number of hashtags (e.g. #thuglife and #fml) and some curse words. The instructor, who was not responsible for putting the image up, erased the drawings and wording before a BART member could investigate in person.
How has the Bias Advisory Response Team responded?
At this time we do not have enough information to determine who might be responsible for this imagery. Given that final exams are coming up BART is not planning to call a campus-wide forum unless we receive strong interest from the community to do so.
What Happened? Flyers Posted in Academic Buildings [Closed and resolved]
BART has been made aware of "Who Needs White When Black Lives Matter" flyers that have been posted in various academic buildings as early as last Thursday, November 10, 2016. Several people reported the existence of the flyers to Dr. Janice Walker, Jean Griffin and XUPD.
How has the Bias Advisory Response Team responded?
BART does not view these flyers as being an example of bias. While they may cause some people to feel uncomfortable, we encourage people to first ask why these flyers are necessary. We support the attempt to intellectually create awareness on campus using factual information. BART found that the flyers needed to be edited for their accuracy. Statistics should read that when faced with exclusionary conduct 66% of the Black/African American students who took the survey felt it was because of their ethnic/racial identity. And 19% of students of color (Black, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American) who took the survey reported being less likely to feel very comfortable or comfortable with the overall climate at Xavier. Smaller proportions of Black/African American respondents, 13%, were very comfortable with the overall climate.
We hope that others will ensure accuracy of the data, and continue to educate themselves about the climate study by reviewing the climate report. We do encourage all faculty, staff and students to be sure to follow poster posting guidelines for each building.
What Happened? Racial Bias Social Media Incidents [Closed and resolved]
On Oct. 24, 2016 two images depicting offensive and insensitive images of African and African-American people began to be widely shared through social media. One was posted by a student who was wearing a black facial mask with a caption that read, "Who needs white when black lives matter." The second image was of a skeleton wearing an African Dashiki hanging from what some interpreted as a noose in the window of a University residence hall. The display was removed but not before a photo was taken and shared on social media.
View a local media report summarizing the situation.
How has Xavier's President, Michael Graham, S.J., responded?
President Michael J. Graham, S.J., responded to the campus community immediately after the situation came to his attention, saying he was outraged and deeply troubled that such posts were linked to our students. He followed up at the end of the week with a letter to the campus community.
On Sunday, November 13, President Michael Graham, S.J., along with key university leaders, hosted a conversation with students to discuss ways that the Xavier community can come together to enhance the current campus climate to ensure that it is more inclusive to all students.
The focus group created a space for student leaders and university administrators to discuss the recent on-campus bias incidents and name the opportunities that Xavier faces in developing an environment that is characterized by diversity and unity. The conversation allowed students to state their concerns and aspirations and recommend strategies and actions for the university to achieve our goals.
Student leaders who participated in the discussion varied by academic area of study, co-curricular involvement, race, gender and nationality.
Along with Fr. Graham, the following administrators also attended on Sunday evening:
Maribeth Amyot, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Dr. John Kucia, Administrative Vice President
Joseph Feldhaus, S.J., General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees
Dr. Brian Levin-Stankevich, Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Dr. Janice Walker, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Dr. Paul Gore, Dean of Colleges of Professional Sciences
Dr. David Mengel, Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Aaron Meis, Vice President of Enrollment Management
Dave Johnson, Chief Student Affairs Officer and Associate Provost
Jean Griffin, Dean of Students
Kate Lawson, Title XI Coordinator
How has the Bias Advisory Response Team responded?
The day after the images were widely shared, BART protocol went into effect and a forum was called to immediately support those impacted by the incidents. The meeting drew nearly 1,000 students, faculty, staff and community members, who wanted to support one another and talk about what we can do to combat racism on campus.
BART has been evolving since its creation in Fall 2013. Over the past year it has developed a three-tiered approach for responding to bias incidents of this nature. This is the first time that we are fully employing our BART protocol; future incidents that are reported, which are determined to be biased towards a group of people based on a shared identity, will be responded to in a similar fashion.
Learn more about the Bias Advisory Response Team.
What is the consequence for the students involved?
Federal privacy laws do not allow us to report on individual students nor the results of any conduct process. Details on the student conduct process may be found in the Student Handbook. While this may be frustrating to some, this is driven by the federal law known as FERPA that governs all universities.
Prior to the student conduct process, BART co-chairs facilitated a restorative dialogue between the person involved in the black face social media post and several students who were offended by it. It is important to note, however, that BART does not have influence on the student conduct process. It is designed to respond to the needs of the community and as an educational body.
How does the Student Conduct process work?
Like all universities, Xavier has a student code of conduct that stipulates expected behavior among students, including respect for others. Each case is determined individually, given thoughtful consideration and evaluated according to the specific circumstances. Learn more about Student Integrity and Conduct.
What is the University doing to improve the racial climate on campus?
Students, faculty and staff are coming together in a variety of ways to address not only this particular situation, but also systemic racism that is pervasive in our culture. As an educational institution, we have a responsibility and are uniquely positioned to turn this ugly example of racism into a teaching and learning opportunity for our entire community.
Faculty have been encouraged to talk about issues of race and bias in their classes, and some classes and programs are changing their focus to make sure serious conversations about race, inclusion and acceptance are happening on our campus. BART will work with the Center for Teaching Excellence, and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion to provide messaging and resources that will encourage faculty to effectively engage campus incidents in the classroom.
A variety of ongoing programming, workshops and initiatives are planned or occurring. Some are listed below and others will be added as they are scheduled.
- On Nov. 4, several concerned faculty members have scheduled a gathering for 5:00 p.m. in Smith G27 to share conversation around the topic, "Where Do We Go From Here." All are welcome.
- On Nov. 7, Michael Spencer, PhD, will give multiple talks to students and faculty in the College of Professional Sciences around the importance of self-awareness, power, privilege and an interprofessional approach to cultural competence.
- On Nov. 20, Ta-Nehisi Coates, one of America's most compelling, provocative and thoughtful voices on the topic of race in America, will be on campus at 7:00 p.m. in Cintas as part of the 2016-2017 Xavier University Ethics/Religion and Society (ERS) Lecture Series.
- Suggested action items created by students, staff and faculty in response to the campus climate study will be shared on the climate study website by the end of November. Members of the President's Cabinet will review the items and establish a plan for moving forward.
- On Feb. 6, there is a keynote address on campus by Terrell Strayhorn, an American scholar and award-winning professor at The Ohio State University (OSU) titled "Real Talk About Race and Racism in College" with a student focus on belonging and differences.
*More updates as they happen will be posted on the BART website.