This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at DePauw chapter.

Her Campus DePauw is an organization whose mission is centered around empowering college women. It is also an organization that strives to promote intersectionality and support for all members of the DePauw community, regardless of gender expression or age. We invite those who would like to use the Her Campus platform to share responses to recent campus events to email hercampus@depauw.edu (regardless of membership in the organization). Her Campus DePauw supports the students who have been affected by the racist and homophobic behavior and threats on campus. You are loved. You are respected. And you deserve to be here. We will not let hate take over our campus. Enough is enough.

It has been a painful and disheartening past few days for the DePauw community. Six incidents have occurred in the span of six days:

A racist threat in the bathroom at The Inn. The message read “all n****** must die -KKK.”
A homophobic and an anti-Semitic message in a restroom
Student wearing a dark face covering appearing to be blackface at The Duck with a sign that said “Blackie.” The student was a senior member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
The n-word formed by rocks in the Nature Park.
Islamophobic language and threat found in the bathroom of Harrison Hall. The message read “all sand n****** must die.”
A message reading “f*** ch*nk” found in the bathroom of a Lucy residence hall (occurred after initial protest).

In response to these racist incidents, students of color at DePauw organized a protest during a lecture by guest speaker Jenna Fischer (most known for her role as Pam on The Office). Students stood and filled the aisles, expressing feelings of anger and not being safe on campus. The demonstration was incredibly powerful. Students expressed feelings and concerns that have been felt for a long time without much action.

A press conference was held the day after the lecture with media coverage from The Indy Channel. Student activists marched into the press conference, again expressing their lack of safety and asking for their demands, sent to President McCoy through email that morning, to be met.

President McCoy has since sent a campus-wide email addressing a few of these demands and providing information about next steps:

The SAE house will be used for the AAAS house until the end of the semester. A permanent location will be recommended by the end of the school year.
The FBI has been notified and invited to investigate threats found in the Nature Park and campus restrooms that targeted students of color, Jewish students, Muslim students, Chinese students, and the LGBTQ+ community. A reward of $5,000 will be given to anyone with information about the perpetrators.
Increase in Public Safety foot patrols.
An additional counselor will be hired and availability hours of all counselors will be increased.
Free lunch passes will be provided for faculty to use at Hoover to discuss issues with students outside of the classroom (available at the President’s Office, Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and the Office of the Vice President for Academic Life).
A mandatory meeting for IFC/Panhellenic organizations with administrative leadership is being organized.
Longer term initiatives regarding a day of training for faculty and campus leaders, staffing solutions, changes to Day of Dialogue, and changes to the Inclusion and Diversity Plan.

The day following the lecture, Fischer posted the following on her Instagram page:

Kappa Alpha Theta also made a statement on their Instagram page:

Her Campus DePauw encourages you to engage in conversation and hold your friends and yourself accountable. Educate yourself if you are in a position of privilege; below is a collection of various educational resources and works, courtesy of Matthew Abtahi. Let’s do better.

Articles

America will never be “Post Racial”

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/post-racial-society-distant-dream/395255/

The Case for Reparations

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

History white people need to learn

https://www.salon.com/2014/02/07/the_history_white_people_need_to_learn/

How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law

https://www.propublica.org/article/living-apart-how-the-government-betrayed-a-landmark-civil-rights-law

The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism

http://www.blackpast.org/1981-audre-lorde-uses-anger-women-responding-racism

White Privilege