Post by Blaque on Nov 21, 2006 16:13:07 GMT -5
Anonymous person completes African American studies midterm using racist language
On Oct. 26, students in Milmon Harrison's African American and African Studies 10 class, African American Culture and Society, took their midterm as scheduled -- but one unidentified person filled out the exam using racially degrading responses.
"The incident with the midterm in my class was indeed very disturbing on a number of levels," Harrison said. "This kind of thing is particularly unsettling when we consider that someone entered our classroom, supposedly a 'safe' space, and took the time to write the kind of things they wrote before actually turning it in."
Harrison declined to discuss the specific content of the midterm.
Two ASUCD officials, President Darnell Holloway and Sen. Avni Patel, are students in Harrison's class.
"Somebody actually sat down with the class for an hour and 20 minutes to write overtly racist and mocking comments on this midterm," Holloway said.
Patel said she is disturbed by the incident.
"It's disturbing because every midterm was accounted for every person in that class," she said. "That makes it seem highly unlikely that it's someone in the class. That means that someone knew we were taking a midterm that day, and they brought a blue book in for this purpose," she said.
"The entire midterm that was turned in was degrading towards Africans and African Americans," Patel said. "The comments were explicit, and sometimes even sexual. The fact that someone took time out of their day to proactively sit in an educational institution and write for over an hour hurtful, hateful and disrespectful comments disheartens me."
When Harrison announced what had happened during the midterm, Patel said many of her classmates appeared shocked.
"Everyone gasped and looked around. People were really offended," Patel said. "Professor Harrison makes it a point in his class to make people feel comfortable, and people like going to his class. The fact that someone put that comfort level at risk is unacceptable."
Harrison reported the incident to Student Judicial Affairs and the UC Davis Police Department, Patel said, but UCDPD spokesperson Lt. Nader Oweis said the incident has not been reported to campus police.
Don Dudley, a SJA judicial affairs officer, elaborated on possible university consequences for the anonymous test-taker, if he or she is identified and is a student.
"There are two issues involved here. The first is freedom of expression, which, even if objectionable, is protected," he said. "The other issue is the fact that this behavior may be disruptive to the classroom environment, in which case violates the university policy." Dudley declined to comment further, as the particulars of the incident are still being investigated.
AAS 10 is one of the classes undergraduate students at UC Davis can use to fill the social-cultural diversity general education requirement.
"The purpose of the diversity requirement is for students to gain a greater appreciation of the myriad of perspectives found in a multi-cultural society," according to the Academic Senate.
Patel and Holloway said they question to what extent the diversity requirement actually fulfills that need.
"The diversity requirement is filled too easily by too many classes and doesn't seem to fill its aim," Patel said.
Holloway agreed.
"It's really unfortunate [the AAS 10 midterm incident is] something that highlights the fact that we do need to extend our horizons like diversity requirements," he said. "We need more dialogues on our campus encouraging more collaboration between different people. It's upsetting, but it calls attention to an animosity on our campus that needs to be addressed."
On Oct. 26, students in Milmon Harrison's African American and African Studies 10 class, African American Culture and Society, took their midterm as scheduled -- but one unidentified person filled out the exam using racially degrading responses.
"The incident with the midterm in my class was indeed very disturbing on a number of levels," Harrison said. "This kind of thing is particularly unsettling when we consider that someone entered our classroom, supposedly a 'safe' space, and took the time to write the kind of things they wrote before actually turning it in."
Harrison declined to discuss the specific content of the midterm.
Two ASUCD officials, President Darnell Holloway and Sen. Avni Patel, are students in Harrison's class.
"Somebody actually sat down with the class for an hour and 20 minutes to write overtly racist and mocking comments on this midterm," Holloway said.
Patel said she is disturbed by the incident.
"It's disturbing because every midterm was accounted for every person in that class," she said. "That makes it seem highly unlikely that it's someone in the class. That means that someone knew we were taking a midterm that day, and they brought a blue book in for this purpose," she said.
"The entire midterm that was turned in was degrading towards Africans and African Americans," Patel said. "The comments were explicit, and sometimes even sexual. The fact that someone took time out of their day to proactively sit in an educational institution and write for over an hour hurtful, hateful and disrespectful comments disheartens me."
When Harrison announced what had happened during the midterm, Patel said many of her classmates appeared shocked.
"Everyone gasped and looked around. People were really offended," Patel said. "Professor Harrison makes it a point in his class to make people feel comfortable, and people like going to his class. The fact that someone put that comfort level at risk is unacceptable."
Harrison reported the incident to Student Judicial Affairs and the UC Davis Police Department, Patel said, but UCDPD spokesperson Lt. Nader Oweis said the incident has not been reported to campus police.
Don Dudley, a SJA judicial affairs officer, elaborated on possible university consequences for the anonymous test-taker, if he or she is identified and is a student.
"There are two issues involved here. The first is freedom of expression, which, even if objectionable, is protected," he said. "The other issue is the fact that this behavior may be disruptive to the classroom environment, in which case violates the university policy." Dudley declined to comment further, as the particulars of the incident are still being investigated.
AAS 10 is one of the classes undergraduate students at UC Davis can use to fill the social-cultural diversity general education requirement.
"The purpose of the diversity requirement is for students to gain a greater appreciation of the myriad of perspectives found in a multi-cultural society," according to the Academic Senate.
Patel and Holloway said they question to what extent the diversity requirement actually fulfills that need.
"The diversity requirement is filled too easily by too many classes and doesn't seem to fill its aim," Patel said.
Holloway agreed.
"It's really unfortunate [the AAS 10 midterm incident is] something that highlights the fact that we do need to extend our horizons like diversity requirements," he said. "We need more dialogues on our campus encouraging more collaboration between different people. It's upsetting, but it calls attention to an animosity on our campus that needs to be addressed."