Penn State faculty groups lend support to student-based Black Caucus after racist ‘Zoom bombing’
Several Penn State faculty groups have continued to denounce last week’s racist Zoom bombing against the student-based Black Caucus, lending public support for the caucus while calling on the university community for change.
Since last week, denouncement of the racist act has been virtually universal. The Black Caucus issued a pointed statement Friday, university President Eric Barron referred to the incident as “beyond disgusting” in an open letter Saturday, and Penn State’s undergraduate student government announced Friday it plans to introduce a resolution formally condemning it.
Multiple independent faculty groups and university departments have also spoken out since, from the African American Studies Department to the heads of the College of the Liberal Arts to the university’s Faculty Senate. Their words were different, their statements unique, but their message was unified: What happened last Wednesday is unacceptable, and steps must be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“Ultimately, what the students seek, and what they have long been calling for, is transformation,” read an open letter from the faculty of Penn State’s African American Studies Department. “Now is the time for Penn State to make good on its stated commitment to banish white supremacy, subtle and overt, and root out systemic racism from the university.”
Last Wednesday, during a Spring Virtual Involvement Fair, 51 unwanted users of varying ages joined the online Zoom room of the Black Caucus. Some users shouted the n-word, while others yelled homophobic slurs. Some users had swastikas set as their virtual backgrounds, while another allegedly pulled down his pants and mooned the three executive officers there.
The entire incident lasted 10-15 minutes, until the caucus could remove and report each user.
“We support the Black Caucus’ condemnation of the attack and join their call for the university to hold the perpetrators accountable,” read a statement from the Penn State chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “Furthermore, we support the Black Caucus’ call for more programming, educational opportunities and research to combat anti-Blackness and to unseat white supremacist violence in all forms at Penn State, across Pennsylvania, and around the world.”
Beth Seymour, chair of the Faculty Senate, which encompasses all Penn State campuses, first learned about the incident over the weekend. The associate teaching professor at Penn State-Altoona told the Centre Daily Times she was “appalled but not surprised,” given the tense time the country finds itself in.
She emailed the Black Caucus privately to express her personal feelings. And she also emailed the 247 members of the Faculty Senate to inform them what happened, attaching several open letters for them to read.
“Black students have historically played a powerful role in transforming higher education,” Seymour wrote in the email. “And the Black Caucus is continuing this tradition. Our students deserve campus environments in which they can learn, grow, thrive and most importantly, feel safe.”
One of those letters Seymour attached came from 21 heads and directors of the College of Liberal Arts. In that letter, four bulleted statements were outlined — including standing with the caucus, denouncing last Wednesday’s acts, calling for an investigation and urging the community to challenge racism.
“We regard it as the responsibility of all students, faculty and staff in our Penn State community to challenge racism and perpetuate the values of mutual respect that our university holds dear,” the open letter read. “Each member of our community should ensure that our actions reflect these values and challenge racism and disrespect in our pedagogy, in our relationships and in our interactions with one another.”
University Police are currently investigating the Zoom bombing and have consulted with the FBI, Centre County District Attorney’s Office and their own Office of Information Security. No charges have yet been filed, but the university said it’s investigating with the “full resources of University Police and Public Safety.”
While the Black Caucus acknowledged the university has taken steps in combating racism this past year — such as establishing the Select Penn State Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias and Community Safety — the group also believes more must be done. Barron called for equity, inclusion and justice Saturday, and Caucus President Nyla Holland told the CDT on Sunday that she would like to see a clear plan to achieve that.
And, based on the letters of support and public statements, the Black Caucus isn’t alone in wanting the university to take further action.
“The CJU (Coalition for a Just University) stands in solidarity with other organizations and academic units to address these issues and are committed to bringing about substantive changes to eliminate racism on all levels at Penn State,” read a statement from CJU, a faculty-based group that also includes students. “We demand that the university take these matters with the utmost seriousness, increase and expand its efforts to affirmatively combat racism and to protect the interests of its student body, with all deliberate speed.”
Most faculty groups were quick to add they didn’t want to speak for the caucus, which hasn’t shied away from addressing Saturday’s incident or past racist acts. But they also know last Wednesday wasn’t just a student problem, or a Penn State problem, and it can’t be solved by just one group of people.
So, different faculty-based groups released different statement to express the same idea: A lot needs to change, and it needs to change now.
“We join the Black students in their demand that the leadership of our university seize this moment and make discernible and indisputable transformations toward racial justice,” faculty from the African American Studies Department wrote, “transformations in administrative leadership, in budgetary priorities and in retention and recruitment of Black students, faculty and staff; transformations that will impact learning and work spaces on all our campuses; transformations that will be tangible in the lives of every member of the Penn State community.
“Certainly, now is the time!”
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 5:07 PM.
