[407] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Black at an American University
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Zhelinrentice L Scott)
Tue May 1 08:48:57 2001
Message-Id: <200105011248.IAA26265@ten-thousand-dollar-bill.mit.edu>
To: spa-discuss@MIT.EDU, mit-talk@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 08:48:11 -0400
From: Zhelinrentice L Scott <zlscott@MIT.EDU>
May 1, 2001
Fear Follows Student Death Threats
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:35 a.m. ET
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State University student LaKeisha Wolf has a
professional bodyguard, sometimes two, at her side most days. The
21-year-old broadcast journalism major rarely steps out alone.
Wolf, president of the university's Black Caucus, has received four death
threats in the last two years, including two in October. So six months ago,
Penn State offered her protection.
``Because they're anonymous and because they're so vile in content, I think
any reasonable person would be scared,'' university President Graham B.
Spanier said. ``That fear, that legitimate fear, is something that should
concern all of us.''
Aside from Wolf, several blacks, including a university trustee and at least
one football player, received threatening letters in October.
Despite Wolf's bodyguard, students complain Penn State isn't doing enough to
address racist incidents, which have escalated since 1999 when Wolf and
other dozens of students received racist e-mails from a sender identified
only as ``Patriot.''
Wolf's latest letter touched off a firestorm on this rural central
Pennsylvania campus, where some black students complain of an undercurrent
of racism.
``Black people are scared, and the university isn't doing anything about
it,'' said Assata Richards, a spokeswoman for the Black Caucus.
Frustrated with what they saw as university inaction, about two dozen
students rushed the Beaver Stadium field before Penn State's spring football
scrimmage April 21.
Three days later, the Black Caucus effectively shut down a
university-sponsored march against racism. More than 4,000 students showed
up, but the march didn't start after the Black Caucus demanded a meeting
with Spanier. The protesters then moved to the student union building.
There, scores of students have camped out in what they've called ``The
Village.'' Prayer meetings are held every hour, and some students say they
are fasting until the university meets their demands.
``I'm going to stay as long as I have to,'' Karissa Burns said while
studying for a Spanish exam Wednesday. ``I have a test at nine, but then I'm
coming back. If my life is in danger, then this is what I'm going to do.
It's that important to me.''
Penn State last week announced it would add faculty to the African and
African-American Studies Department, create an Africana Studies Research
Center, create a new scholarship program and give more authority to the vice
provost for educational equity.
Black Caucus leaders say the changes don't go far enough. Spokesman Chenits
Pettigrew said the research center needs more funding and the vice provost
should be able to withhold money from colleges that don't meet diversity
goals.
Ironically, Penn State has a strong record on race, including having
integrated the Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1947 football team agreed to play
only after bowl officials said they would allow Penn State's black players
to participate.
But Penn State has also seen past incidents involving racist or anti-Semitic
posters and fliers, and Wolf and her organization say they are constantly
singled out on this predominantly white campus.
Less than 4 percent of the 40,571 students at Penn State's main campus are
black and the borough of State College is 84 percent white. In comparison,
blacks make up more than 8 percent of students at the University of
Pittsburgh and more than 20 percent at Temple University, the two other
state-supported research institutions.
``People wouldn't send those letters unless they felt safe,'' Wolf said.
Perhaps most unsettling to students was that Wolf's last letter April 20
promised a black man's body would be found. On Friday, a black man was shot
dead about 20 miles from town, but police say there is no connection. A
different location was mentioned in the letter.
Still, the slaying shocked some students, who now walk to class in groups.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has asked the
university to offer protection.
``The police are not being forthcoming,'' Richards said. ``People are afraid
to leave 'The Village' because a body was found.''
Spanier stresses that he's dedicated to long-term solutions. Since his
appointment in 1995, black enrollment is up 27 percent, compared with a 6
percent increase in overall enrollment.
``This is not a short-term agenda for me or for Penn State,'' Spanier said.
``We will do the right thing.''
Wolf said the struggle will be worthwhile if it changes attitudes.
``The fact that my life is in danger, that it still is as we speak right
now, it is a blessing,'' she said. ``I would give my life if people would
recognize the truth that racism is real and stop looking past this.''
^------
On the Net:
Penn State University: http://www.psu.edu
PSU Black Caucus: http://www.geocities.com/psuvillage
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