To the Editor:

Let’s face reality: racism exists in the residence halls.

Three examples of racism that I encountered should describe that point.

During my first year of being an RA, a fellow black RA and I stopped outside of a suite’s door one night on a round of the building due to shouting from a female resident inside of the suite. In the midst of the yelling, we heard her say something to the effect of “her n—-r friend…”.

We looked at each other, shocked. I cannot speak for the [other] RA, but I was outraged that a statement like that came out of the mouth of a college student. I guess I did not realize how much of a problem that racism was in the halls.

We ultimately decided to contact the RA of that floor about what we had just heard. The RA accompanied us to that suite where said RA asked if the resident was okay, and if she needed someone that she could always come to the RAs.

That was how that situation was handled by another RA. A veteran RA, nonetheless.

That moment opened my eyes to two glaring issues: that racism exists in our residence halls, and that the RAs and other student leaders are not adequately trained in this matter.

This realization was reaffirmed on two occasions this year.

The first time was during a program that I held with the same black RA called “Culture Shock.” The goal of this program was to help identify and remedy cases of racism occurring throughout the residence halls.

This program was attended by administrators from the Office of Residential Life, the Counseling Center and the Center for Student Success, and they were horrified when residents in attendance described their experiences of racism in their communities.

Among many others, they experienced basic stereotyping and a string of insensitive comments. These residents also revealed that there were residents in my community that were disappointed to have me as an RA because of my skin color, and do not feel comfortable coming to me with issues.

Once the semester ended, one of the residents in attendance transferred out of Iona due to the racism that was experienced. Another resident in attendance recently revealed intentions to transfer after the school year is over due to racism.

The second time was during winter RA training. Without revealing specific details to respect confidentiality, I sat through a session (held as a result of the “Culture Shock” program), in which a few RAs voiced their opinions about racism in our community. Their opinions led me to conclude that they do not find racism to be an issue among the residence halls.

This was the “last straw” for me because with their beliefs, they are unintentionally allowing potential racial tensions in their communities to go undetected. Needless to say, I was compelled to take action.

So, I set up meetings with key campus administrators, including a committee of the College Council, and the Office of Residential Life, telling them my stories of racism throughout the halls. I sent my floor an e-mail stating that their liberal use of the n-word and its many variations will come to an end.

I have talked to professors around the college, who all support my cause. I reached out to the Ionian to write this letter.

The change that I hope to see is an increase in racial sensitivity and adequate training with race issues.

Racial sensitivity around our campus is essential. I am not convinced that the student body cares about racial issues. Our campus is very supportive of the LGBTQ community, but not nearly as vocal and enthusiastic about race issues. I think this is because issues involving the LGBTQ community are more prominent and relevant in today’s society.

I believe that race issues are perceived as insignificant. This is simply not the case. For example, I do not believe that to some, the word “n—a” is on the same level of inappropriateness that the word “f—-t” is. I believe that people perceive “n—a” as socially acceptable due to its frequent usage. Meanwhile, “f—-t” is a word that will most likely always offend someone.

Both words are highly inappropriate, but one word, amongst the student body, is noticeably worse than the other.

It is possible that most students here have not experienced race issues, but this does not make the LGBTQ cause better than the race cause, or vice versa. As a community, we need to accept the differences of all people.

This issue easily falls upon the administrators of this college. The administrators simply have to do a better job in training the student body in handling race issues.

As a student leader on this campus, I find it to be inexcusable that a session on handling racism has not been offered during the many required student leadership conferences. As a result of this negligence, the student leaders suffer and the residents of the halls suffer. Once student leaders receive training on how to handle these issues, the results will be significant.

I strongly believe that ending racial insensitivity on our campus and training our students on handling racism is a necessity.

This will not end racism on our campus, as people will believe as they wish, but it will bring us closer towards ending racism on our campus. If student leaders are trained to handle these issues, they can educate their peers as to why certain types of language are offensive and inappropriate.

I am a senior with a few months left of college and am very aware that I might not see these changes. However, this does not diminish my desire to make the minority student experience better for current and future minorities.

I suppose, then, that this is my way of moving the world. Yeah, that’s it. Let’s move the world, Iona, but we cannot do that unless we move past racism.

Matt Harrigan

Resident Assistant

Class of 2014