Letter to HWS Administration
Show your support by signing this petition now
We are
concerned about the racial environment on the Hobart and William Smith campus. It
has come to our attention that Kiara Ocasio, a William Smith senior, has been
reprimanded for an incident that occurred March 3, 2013 and has been removed
from campus. We request that Kiara
be allowed to fully participate in the graduation ceremony on May 19, 2013. Kiara has met the academic requirements
necessary for participation in the graduation ceremony. In addition, allowing her participation
is essential in helping Kiara to learn and progress from this incident, to move
from a place of anger and hurt to a place of positive and proactive solutions. Allowing
Kiara to participate in the graduation ceremony will also signal to the larger
community that the administration is fully invested in the wellbeing and
futures of HWS students. More
importantly, denying her the right to participate in the graduation ceremony
gives the appearance that the administration is overlooking the racial
harassment that was a significant part of the incident on March 3, 2013. In this particular case, everyone involved
has some degree of culpability. However, the students that made the hateful
comments have not been removed from campus nor have they been denied the right
to participate in the graduation ceremony on May 19, 2013. This seemingly
differential punishment not only seems to contradict the vision of social
equality and fairness that is central to Hobart and William Smith’s identity,
but also has the danger of signaling to the community that the administration
is blind to the inequalities of race, gender, and sexual orientation that are
being experienced by its students, faculty, and staff.
To the larger
community, it seems that Kiara’s situation has been handled with punitive action
that does not take into account the larger context of the problems on this
campus. The incident on March 3, 2013 is only one of many incidents that have
occurred recently that have exemplified racism, misogyny, and homophobia on our
small campus. Although violence is never an appropriate response to hate
speech, we understand how someone could have such a reaction to violent and
hurtful words. It is hard for many, especially those in positions who have not
been the subjected to racial oppression and marginalization to truly understand
the impact being called “nigger” (among other things) has on someone of color. We
must not only proactively work to keep such incidents from happening but we
must also consider how we can effectively help students, faculty, and staff
cope with the raw emotion that results from being a victim of such provocation
and react appropriately.
We are writing
this letter because we are all
responsible for our community. It
takes a community response to combat injustice. We are very proud of the
milestones that have been made on our campus that have reestablished lines of
trust between administration, faculty members, and students. Last semester, the
Race and Racism Coalition was successful in exposing the fact that racism on
our campus is an unfortunate reality, but we still have a long way to go. Kiara’s situation presents the
administration with the opportunity to build on this work. Kiara’s experience is one of many that
demonstrate that acts of hate speech and bigotry are not simply isolated
incidents, but rather part of structural inequalities we must address with an
open dialogue. This will allow the administration to send a clear message that these
acts, both overt and subtle, will not be tolerated.
A valuable liberal arts education does not only happen inside of classrooms and lecture halls. It also happens in the daily, lived experiences of individuals. We can work towards the ultimate goal of having a safer, more tolerant HWS community that is genuinely welcoming of diversity. In order for this to occur, the administration should partner with the other members of the community towards positive growth. We, including Kiara, are well invested in the opportunities provided by the Colleges with faith that it would adhere to and abide by the standards it advertises. Let’s make sure we can move on from this moment, together.
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