Karibu Tena!
"Welcome" in Swahili
to the
African American Student Center

 

Dear students and members of the campus community:

 

The staff in the Office of Student Life and Cultural Centers has been deeply troubled at the recent events towards African Americans at UCSD and against the LGBT Center at UC Davis and other acts of discrimination over the past few weeks including offensive graffiti at our own campus in the residence halls targeting African Americans, women, and members of the LGBT community.  These offensive incidents have caused great concern for many college communities and the well-being of our own campus community. The Office of Student Life and Cultural Centers staff is condemning all student behavior that is disrespectful, offensive, and degrading to any person or group of individuals. There is no place for racism, homophobia, sexism or any other form of discrimination on our college campus.

Last week, there were two incidences of offensive graffiti inside one of our residence halls targeting several campus communities.  The graffiti was written in public areas of the building and was targeted towards members of the African American and LGBT communities as well as women.  While these appear to be isolated incidents and we have no knowledge of similar incidents in our recent past, the fact they occurred is of significant concern to me personally and for the entire campus.

 

An implicit value of Cal Poly Pomona is the richness of our diverse student population and community.  We stand for equal opportunity, mutual respect for one another, and individual dignity.  It is particularly painful and unacceptable when anyone from any of our communities is targeted.

 

In response to these incidents last week, we immediately set in place a multi-pronged approach which includes the following actions:

·         University Police have opened a criminal investigation, have filed the case as a formal hate incident, and will criminally prosecute those involved to the fullest extent the law allows.

·         University Housing Services and the Office of Student Life and Cultural Centers have partnered to conduct two separate forums for the residents in the impacted residence hall to openly discuss the issue and any their concerns.  While it is still unclear whether the graffiti was targeted towards particular individuals in the hall or more general, we remain in contact with residents who may be feeling unsafe and will continue to offer a range of support services.

·         The Cultural Center Coordinators have met with student leaders to solicit their feedback on their awareness of the incidents, levels of support needed for impacted groups, and input into the type of and timing of further action.  We anticipate that these forums will continue into next week and remain committed to standing with our students who are feeling unsafe or worried.

 

These incidents are unacceptable at Cal Poly Pomona and community members who engage in acts like we saw last week are not welcome here.  All of us need to remain committed to creating and maintaining a working, learning, and social environment that welcomes and respects our differences and condemns those who believe otherwise.

 

If you become aware of any details that might be helpful to the current police investigation, please contact University Police at 909/869-3070.  If you identify students who are in need of additional assistance or if you would like to assist in the upcoming programs, please contact La’Keisha Gilford-Beard, African American Student Center Coordinator at (909)869-5007, ldgilford@csupomona.edu or Megan Stang, Director of University Housing Services at (909) 869-3768, mmstang@csupomona.edu.

 

If anyone is interested in participating in a discussion concerning these issues, Black Advance is sponsoring a Campus Forum on Wednesday, March 10^th  at 6 pm in the Bronco Student Center-England Evans.  We encourage you to participate and get involved in our campus community.

 

 

Doug Freer                                              La’Keisha Gilford-Beard

Vice President, Student Affairs            African American Student Center, Coordinator

           

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