Several black freshmen at American University claim that they experienced freaky and racially-motivated attacks as people have apparently been throwing bananas at them.
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Neah Gray told the Post she also found an obscene drawing on the whiteboard attached to her door. “I wouldn’t let people drive me out, but it’s kind of sad that this kind of thing still happens”, said Gray, of Brooklyn. “We’re literally being attacked and assaulted on campus, and there’s nothing being done about it by the administration”.
The school is now investigating two white male freshmen in connection with the incident. Torrent notes that students of color do not feel safe or welcome on campus and that the issues experienced on campus are part of a larger context that the country is facing as a whole.”It’s hard to tackle solving a problem on our campus when it’s such a pervasive national issue, as well”, Torrent said.”We can’t solve the nation’s problem here at AU”.
The statement pointed to a series of incidents last academic year in which the word “ni**er” was written on black students’ dorm room doors, students on the anonymous social medium Yik Yak called for a “slave auction” of black students on campus and demanded that they “Go back to Africa”. “Nothing is ever done, no consequences, just town halls where we speak to deaf ears”, she said.
American University President Cornelius M. “Neil” Kerwin released a statement ahead of Monday’s protest calling the banana incident and another unspecified “explicit racist incident” in a residence hall “unacceptable student behavior. that left our African-American students and others shaken, upset, and even feeling unsafe”.
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That response didn’t sit well with many students, who said they weren’t given enough notice to attend the meeting. The entire AU community is invited to participate. The Dean of Students office reached out to the affected party and to the perpetrators. The Dean of Students investigated, and has filed conduct charges. “Actions can and do have impact beyond their intent and that was the case here”. “The University condemns discrimination and discriminatory harassment and all violations are handled through the Student Conduct process”.
