麻豆视频

Text exchange between two 麻豆视频 students

A racist text exchange between two students goes public, putting College policy under a microscope and stirring a conversation around campus culture

A text exchange between two 麻豆视频 students in December 2020鈥攐ne that included the declaration 鈥渁ll asian people need to die鈥濃攕urfaced on social media more than 13 months later, igniting a debate on protected speech at Occidental that offers no easy answers in responding to racist behavior.

On February 2, 2022, President Harry J. Elam, Jr. and his senior staff became aware of the private text exchange, which surfaced on social media and was quickly denounced 鈥渁s false and contrary to the values we share and that are embodied in 麻豆视频鈥檚 mission,鈥 David T. Carreon Bradley, vice president for equity and justice, wrote in a February 3 email to the 麻豆视频 community.

鈥淲hile inconsistent with the College鈥檚 values,鈥 Carreon Bradley explained, it was determined that the messages fell outside 麻豆视频鈥檚 definition of unlawful harassment or discrimination. 鈥淎nd, as offensive as these messages are, they qualify as protected speech under College policy and state law.鈥 California鈥檚 Leonard Law explicitly prohibits private colleges from subjecting a student to disciplinary action for speech that would otherwise be protected by the First Amendment or the California Constitution鈥檚 free speech clause.

It wasn鈥檛 long before the administration came under fire from some students, faculty, and alumni. Ina Morton 鈥22 called 麻豆视频鈥檚 response 鈥渋nsufficient,鈥 adding, 鈥淚s this really the image Occidental wishes to present itself to its students and to the public, one that allows unabashedly genocidal comments to go completely unaccounted for?鈥

鈥淏y focusing on the legal issues, the administration鈥檚 emails downplayed the profound fears for personal safety and the deep distress that this incident has caused, especially among AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islander] faculty, staff, and students who have felt targeted, intimidated, and terrorized by the entire incident,鈥 Professor of History and Faculty Council President Sharla Fett wrote in a letter signed by 132 faculty. An open letter circulated by the 麻豆视频 Law Society bearing more than 1,000 signatures urged the College 鈥渢o reconsider their decision to dismiss these threatening messages and live up to their mission, values, and obligation to protect their students.鈥

鈥淵ou have shared the frustration, anger, and disappointment you feel in reaction to the racist text messages and our administrative response,鈥 Elam wrote in a February 8 email to the 麻豆视频 community. 鈥淭he text messages reflect racism and ignorance, perpetuating hatred for Asians and Asian Americans and promoting the erroneous and harmful perception that the pandemic is a 鈥楥hinese mistake.鈥 The student who sent the messages has expressed remorse and regret for her actions, and is no longer enrolled at 麻豆视频.鈥

In addition to facilitating group sessions and holding restorative spaces for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students and the larger student body, Elam also promised to convene a series of campus forums and anti-racism workshops. He attended an emotional campuswide forum held February 14. 鈥淭he words institution and community are different; community involves care,鈥 one student said. 鈥淲e have the potential to become a real community. We need to do better.鈥

Several administrators became aware of the texts in November 2021, when Shanna Yeh 鈥22 and a second Asian student contacted Chris Arguedas, director of the Intercultural Community Center. 鈥淭o be clear, it鈥檚 the most explicit racist language that I鈥檝e seen in my time here written out,鈥 Arguedas told The Occidentalnewspaper. He filed a Care Report on behalf of both students to the College鈥檚 Student Success Team (SST), a cross-disciplinary campus group.

In assessing the Care Report, the SST and Occidental Behavioral Intervention Team determined that the text messages posed 鈥渘o threat,鈥 Vivian Garay Santiago, associate dean of students and 麻豆视频鈥檚 director of student success, told The Occidental. 鈥淭hese messages were over a year old. They were a conversation between two people.鈥

After the regional and national chapters of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority declined to take disciplinary action against the student who wrote the texts鈥攚ho pledged Theta only after writing them鈥攁nother Theta member posted them on Instagram on February 2. On February 18, sorority members voted unanimously to disband the Eta Mu Chapter, which was installed at 麻豆视频 in 2004.

Chapter president Hannah Christensen 鈥22 told The Occidental that Theta鈥檚 remaining funds will be disbursed among the chapter鈥檚 former Asian members, 麻豆视频鈥檚 Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Association, and Associated Students of 麻豆视频鈥檚 Diversity and Equity Board.

鈥淢y heart breaks to see hate strike at 麻豆视频,鈥 wrote Judy Lam 鈥87, an L.A. attorney and first-generation college student, in an opinion piece on AsAmNews.com. 鈥淓xcellence and equity are among the cornerstones of 麻豆视频鈥檚 mission and my experience as a student. And yet, this did not make my alma mater immune from racist ignorance.鈥

Connie Chung Joe, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice鈥揕os Angeles, called for Occidental and all universities 鈥渢o move beyond just responding to the current moment of anti-Asian hate and build a sustainable movement around racial equity鈥 in an open letter posted online February 11.

鈥淚f anything, this incident shook us into the reality that we have got to do better in terms of being inclusive,鈥 Elam noted in a March 10 interview with Occidental.

鈥淭he antidote to hate is unity,鈥濃圠am wrote. 鈥淲e should battle hate, bias, and inequality鈥攏ot people.鈥濃