Two days after she started classes at the University of Arizona, someone wrote โNo nig**rsโ on Nicollette Buckleโs mailbox.
โIt made me feel like I didnโt belong here,โ said Buckle, 24, a graduate student from New York City, who said she thought about leaving town and abandoning her quest for a masterโs degree in geosciences.
โI felt scared and unsafe, like maybe someone would show up in the night and try to do something to me. I didnโt really know what to think because nothing like that had ever happened to me before.โ
Hers was one of many accounts of discrimination that emerged when UA faculty senators recently went on a โlistening tourโ to better understand challenges facing female students, students of color and those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
The faculty outreach was in response to recent racial tensions on other U.S. campuses such as the University of Missouri, said Lynn Nadel, a psychology professor and chair of the UA faculty. โGiven the national climate, we thought it would be good to check in with our students.โ
In December, UA faculty senators met with students at six campus centers that provide support to women and minorities.
According to faculty notes from the meetings, the incidents students described included:
โข Five cases of black students encountering the N-word. They included a group of black females on the UA Mall being referred to as โbitch nig**rsโ by white males and โno nig**rsโ scrawled on bathroom stalls in a residence hall.
โข A professor who likened Mexicans coming over the U.S. border to an โinvasive speciesโ of desert rabbit.
โข White students referring to Hispanic students as โillegalsโ and โanchor babies.โ
โข A professor who led the class in laughing at a foreign student after mocking her accent.
โข A lecturer in the School of Government and Public Policy who told students โracial profiling is necessary to keep everyone safe.โ
โข A Chinese-American student whose professor assumed she was โlow-English proficientโ even after she told him she was born in Tucson. The professor โsaid he was a veteran of Vietnam and therefore knew a lot about China.โ
โข Faculty failing to realize, or failing to intervene, when gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender students were being harassed by other students.
โข Advisors who discourage students of color from applying to medical or graduate school. โMany of the students felt their advisors had low academic expectations of them.โ
โข Native American students โfrustrated by well-intentioned but frequently ignorant professors making racial slights against them.โ One student attending on a scholarship said a professor told her she โwasnโt like other Native Americans.โ
โข โThere was a strong issue raised about Islamophobia on campus, and how it affects more than just the Muslim population (i.e., some were harassed even though they werenโt Muslim).โ
โข A professor who joked about pop star Chris Brownโs domestic violence record.
โข Complaints that UA police officers are insensitive to sexual assault victims. โTheir reaction is often one of slut-shaming โ e.g what were you wearing.โ
Some faculty members expressed shock over what they heard.
โI was absolutely taken back by what the students tonight were saying and felt my ignorance toward many issues being exposed,โ chemistry professor John Pollard wrote after a listening session with black UA students.
In response to student concerns, some senators are calling for new measures such as mandatory cultural awareness training for students, the staff and professors.
UA Senior Vice President Melissa Vito said plans are in the works to improve the intercultural climate on campus, such as training staffers at UA residence halls to engage with freshmen on โhow to break down stereotypes and question personal assumptions about others.โ
โWe have many people, students, faculty and staff who come here with varying degrees of maturity, insight and experience with people who are different from themselves,โ Vito said.
Nadel, the faculty chair, said it was โdisappointingโ to hear of students facing problems at an institution of higher learning.
โWeโre a university. Weโre supposed to be smart people. Itโs kind of hard to figure why anyone would do some of these things.โ
In some cases, Nadel suspects people are unaware that their words or actions are offensive to those of other backgrounds.
โI think a lot of it is mindless. You tell a little joke, you donโt stop to think that itโs at someoneโs expense.โ
Nadel said he doesnโt believe discrimination is rampant at UA, โbut even if itโs happening to 1 percent of the students on our campus, thatโs too many. Itโs not what we want.โ
The students who spoke up said faculty members could prevent many problems by making it clear on the first day of class that discrimination is unacceptable.
Nadel agrees.
โThere are practical steps faculty can take, like saying we will not tolerate students picking on each other or making fun of accents. I expect we will be having more discussions around those types of things.โ
Vito, of UA administration, said the faculty listening tour is one of many efforts underway to better serve all types of students.
โWeโre listening and talking with multiple groups on campus, getting their experiences out into the open and doing the work to improve peopleโs understanding,โ she said.
โWe canโt fix anything if we donโt acknowledge the problems and talk about them.โ
Buckle, the masterโs student whose mailbox was defaced, said faculty senators deserve credit for reaching out and said they seemed sincere in their desire to help.
โItโs a start,โ she said. โAt least they were willing to listen.โ
