Gu Students Protest Latest Racial Threats Black Law Students Receive Racist Letters, Calls For Third Year In Row
They got tired of waiting.
No more talk, no more meetings, they said. It was time to take action.
Without prior approval from school administrators, dozens of Gonzaga University students plastered campus walls with drawings of a clenched fist and the rallying cry “Demand Diversity.”
“Enough is enough,” said Lisa Hunter, a GU sophomore. “People are screaming at the top of their lungs … There are lots of discussions, but I haven’t seen a dramatic change. The commitment (from the university) isn’t there.”
For the third year in a row, black law students at Gonzaga have become the targets of racist letters and phone calls. The latest incidents took place last month.
University officials are working closely with the FBI and Spokane police to find the culprits. They’re also beefing up security to protect the law school’s eight black students, said Dale Goodwin, GU’s public relations director.
Students’ efforts to express their outrage at the racist attacks culminated with a forum Wednesday at the Crosby Student Center.
Less than a week before final exams, about 100 students discussed the lack of diversity on campus, GU’s growing racist image and a number of issues involving culture and ethnicity.
The center’s basement, an area usually brimming with loud voices and loud beeps from video games, was quiet Wednesday as people stopped to listen. For several hours, students took turns at the microphone.
“Where’s the action behind all the talk?” asked sophomore Joe Leahy, his question reflecting the frustration on others’ faces. “I’m in favor of diversity here, but how do you do that?”
People came up with the usual solutions: recruiting students from bigger cities, such as Chicago and Oakland; writing letters to department heads and university officials; learning about diversity and ethnicity at Gonzaga’s Unity House.
Still, many of the speakers couldn’t mask their pain. “Students of color have gone hoarse preaching diversity on campus,” one woman said.
“Unity means white folks, too,” said graduate student Tee Williams.
People still perceive racism as a problem that affects only students of color, some said. But it touches everyone - from potential students to graduates - because of Gonzaga’s image as a university.
“Students are frustrated because … they want to see things happen now,” Goodwin said. “But some things take longer.”
Since the first racist incident occurred in 1995, the university has started a a task force to address the campus’ lack of minority students. Gonzaga also plans to hire an associate academic vice president to oversee cultural diversity on campus, Goodwin said.
Solving racism, however, requires going back to the basics, students said Wednesday.
Gonzaga still needs to learn what racism is, said Hosung Kim, a senior.
“Some people don’t know they’re racist,” Kim said. “Some of them say racist things … and think they’re liberal.”
Because most whites have never experienced racism, working to fight it isn’t a priority for them, said Alfonso Garcia, a graduate student. “It’s not personal to them so they don’t care about being educated.”
To address that, many students advocated changing the university’s core curriculum by adding a course on multiculturalism.
In the same way that Gonzaga students are required to take several philosophy and religion classes, they would have to learn about other cultures, and the words and actions others find offensive.
Throughout the afternoon, students were asked to write down their opinions on a 30-foot-long sheet of paper. The poster asked questions like “What’s diversity to you?” and “What does it mean to be American?”
Organizers intend to give the poster to school administrators.
“It starts with individuals,” said Marites Fiesta, a 19-year-old sophomore from Hawaii. “I need to understand who I am, where I’m from … to get rid of my insecurities. I need to be comfortable with myself. That’s where diversity starts.”
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