Hate incidents detailed in new report on Pa. campuses prompt leaders to take action
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Several state and university leaders came together Tuesday to say enough is enough and they are detailing a new report that analyzes on-campus hate on certain university campuses in Pennsylvania.
A Pennsylvania state senator is demanding schools of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education protect Black and brown students from racial harassment.
State Senator Art Haywood places a teddy bear in front of him at the press conference at West Chester University.
He said it belongs to a soccer player on a campus of the state university system who brought it along as she started her first year.
Haywood said, "She sees the teddy bear being lynched by a teammate on social media. She’s devastated."
She also withdraws from the unnamed university while Haywood said the offending student, her roommate, is suspended for only the final game of the season.
It’s one of the many concerns raised by Black and brown students, said Haywood, in his 20-month-long listening tour on the 14 campuses of the Pa. State System of Higher Education known as the PASSHE schools. West Chester University is one of them.
Jude Husein is the State Advocacy Director in Haywood’s office. "A young brilliant Black student," she recounted. "Who experienced a professor telling her she will never make it into a STEM major because her-kind are unable to complete rigorous course work."
Haywood and his team worked with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
Their report logged thousands of miles listening to students and alumni. Chad Dion Lassiter heads the Pa. Human Relations Commission. He said, "While more and more students of color are attending schools in the state system, they often feel isolated, alienated, unsupported."
Haywood is calling for the schools, including Kutztown, Millersville and Slippery Rock, to develop a code that bans racial harassment and sets up a reporting system. And a tough stance when allegations are true.