WEST CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A new report documents accounts of racism at Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities from the point of view of students. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is outlining action items for university leaders.
“A freshman soccer player brings her favorite teddy bear to college. She leaves it in the room, comes back, and there’s no teddy bear. She sees the teddy bear being lynched by a teammate on social media. Can you imagine that?” said Pa. Sen. Art Haywood at a press event at West Chester University before showing the stuffed bear, with a rope tied around its neck, to the audience.
The report documents anecdotes like these from students who say they have faced racial discrimination in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
Haywood, a Philadelphia Democrat, organized a listening tour at the 14 state schools from April 2022 to November 2023. It was spurred by a series of news reports from our partners at Spotlight PA that found university leaders were failing to support the students of color they were recruiting.
“Isolated, alienated, unsupported,” said Chad Lassiter, the commission’s executive director, describing the feelings many students have when they experience racism on campus.
“They face microaggressions and discrimination from students, faculty, and sometimes the surrounding catchment area.”
Liv Strother, a student at PennWest Clarion, attested to that last point.
“As I am about to cross the main road to get to my side of the street, a white, middle-aged man runs out in front of me and starts questioning me,” she said. “As I walk across the street he begins to follow. He stopped following, but I no longer walk home from my job, because I’m too afraid of what will happen next.”
Strother also shared an example of racism affecting her classroom experience.
“There are two other Black women in my upper-level classes. We do not look alike, and we do not have the same hair. But there’s one professor who particularly seems to mistake us, even though he has had us in several classes in the past,” Strother said.
The report comes amid a steady decline in undergrad enrollment among what it calls “underrepresented minorities,” as fewer of those students are sticking it through to sophomore year.
To remedy this, PHRC calls for university leaders to adopt six action items, including:
—Implementing mandatory diversity training.
—Hiring more faculty and staff of color.
—Creating a new incident reporting system.
West Chester University President Chris Fiorentino says students need a safe space to speak up.
“We do our best to protect them when they do the reporting. So we really want them to feel safe, and we can’t deal with problems if we’re not aware of them.”