By Brandon Fey, News Editor
In light of the recent incident involving a student carving a racial slur onto another student at an informal social gathering on campus, the Black Student Union held a campus-wide community meeting alongside the Gettysburg African Student Association on Thursday, Sept. 26 in College Union 260.
Many details of the incident remain unknown because a report has not been filed to police, which the College says is the choice of the student who had the slur cut into them. Because the incident has only been investigated through the College’s internal student conduct process, it has been unable to confirm a number of details related to how the incident occurred due to student privacy laws.
Prior to the meeting, BSU and GASA issued a joint statement on the incident.
The meeting was directed toward the general campus community and was attended by several students, faculty and administrators including President Bob Iuliano, who previously addressed the incident in two separate campus-wide emails.
Iuliano initiated the meeting with a statement about race at Gettysburg College. He spoke about a need for a more purposeful discussion of race on campus and an importance for the community to unite to face this challenge. He said that the school is currently working on this effort, and needs the students to hold them to accountability.
“We want to do it right,” he said. “You can hold us to that.” Students then took turns voicing their concerns about race on campus to a board of representatives from offices and organizations such as the BSU, GASA, College Life and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion.
One student athlete mentioned that after having personally encountered a racial incident on his team, he did not find the school’s conduct process to be sufficient for addressing racial issues and called for a greater emphasis on the handling of racist incidents.
Another student commented on a concern that the incident has caused for members of other racial identities and asked about what proactive steps the college community can take to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
Chief Diversity Officer Eloisa Gordon-Mora responded to these statements, mentioning a limit to what can be done given the current arrangement of campus resources. She mentioned a need for greater restructuring and reconnecting as well as a proposed obligation that all school administrators share the responsibility for this work.
She stated that the research on diversity issues has existed for decades, but active work is required for it to be applied in addressing racial issues.
“The ideas are there and we are trying to implement them,” Gordon-Mora said.
One student then stated that racial issues often arise but are soon forgotten about. The student said that reports of racial incidents of which she had been aware have not gone through a formal process. She then talked about how these “old issues,” as she claimed Gordon-Mora had referred to them, are still important despite being considered “old,” and asked how they can be finally addressed.
Another asked why the issue was not reported to the campus community via email like most severe campus crimes typically are. The racial slur incident was first reported on by the Gettysburgian on Wednesday, Sept. 18, while the College informed the campus community through a campus-wide email sent by Iuliano on Sept. 19.
Gordon-Mora responded by stating that she did not regard any racial incidents as “old issues” that are therefore unimportant, but had instead stated that the weight of the fact that they are “old,” yet still seriously discussed today highlights the need for greater action to be taken.
Regarding comment about campus communication on the incident, she claimed that within the student conduct process, it was not to be informed “until it reached a level of awareness.”
A student then stated that a systemic racial problem exists on campus and called for racial training for campus departments and organizations.
Another student asked about consequences for students involved in the incident. Gordon-Mora reiterated that the student who cut the slur is no longer a student at Gettysburg College. Citing student privacy laws, the College has been unable to confirm whether that student left voluntarily or was forced out of the College due to the incident.
The current status of the student who had the slur carved onto them is unknown and the College, in a joint statement with that student’s family, said they are committed to working with their family in “how most constructively to move forward.” Details of this are unlikely to be publicly released by the College due to privacy laws.
Another panelist stated that he wanted to talk about moving forward instead of focusing on past incidents.
The meeting ended at 6:30 p.m. after closing remarks were given.
Representatives of the BSU and GASA encouraged students to learn about their culture by attending their normal events and activities, unrelated to the incident. They thanked those who attended the meeting for doing so and challenged others to express care, and engage in meaningful conversations about race. They also invited students in need of support to contact them.
Gordon-Mora stated that she was aware that the community likely wanted more concrete answers and invited those in attendance to have more conversations and connect more closely.
The representative from College Life also mentioned her office offers services for students, who are encouraged to take advantage of the office’s drop-in hours.
