In the wake of the campus-wide e-mail directly from University President Robert Witt, students turned to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook as rumors spread Saturday about the events surrounding an incident Friday night involving a racial slur. With very few details given by Witt in the e-mail, students had to arrive at their own conclusions about what happened.
Justin Zimmerman, a second-year graduate student in public administration, said he thought the e-mail didn’t do enough to fully address the issue. University administrators confirmed on Sunday that Zimmerman was the victim of the racial slur that prompted the e-mail.
“I am very grateful for the helpfulness and the apologies I’ve gotten from Dr. Nelson, Dr. Hudson and Dr. Pruitt, but the e-mail that Dr. Witt sent was disappointing,” Zimmerman said. “It didn’t really get the whole situation, and it didn’t explain what happened and the perpetrators.”
SGA President James Fowler said he agrees with the statement President Witt sent out at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“I join Dr. Witt in reinforcing our community values and emphasizing that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable,” he said in an e-mailed statement. “Our goal as an SGA this year has been to promote inclusiveness throughout the campus community.
“We want to emphasize that these efforts won’t stop because of an isolated incident,” he said.
“I was deeply saddened when I read President Witt’s e-mail on Saturday afternoon,” said Hallie Paul, president of Honors College Assembly. “Though we have come a long way, I think this shows that we still have a ways to go when it comes to standing as a completely united campus.
“The use of degrading or dehumanizing language goes against everything that we stand for as an institution of higher learning,” she said.
“I appreciate the e-mail,” said Nancy Hogan, president of Black Student Union and senior advisor to SGA President James Fowler. “It’s probably the most efficient way to reach faculty and staff, but probably not the most effective.”
Hogan advises Fowler on issues like campus diversity and how to bridge gaps between groups that are normally separated on campus.
“I would love to see some type of follow-up, like some kind of progressive action,” she said.
Hogan also called for preventative measures to ensure incidents like this don’t happen again and called on the administration to take a stronger role in promoting racial diversity.
Kristin Binion, a senior majoring in health studies, agreed with Fowler that Witt’s e-mail was good for the campus.
“I thought it was a very, very nice gesture for him to come out and acknowledge that and make an apology and say the University doesn’t accept behavior like that,” she said. “I thought it was very noble.”
Binion and Fowler both said e-mail was the appropriate way for Witt to share the information with the student body.
“Considering how everybody’s mostly on their phone or on a computer, I think it was a pretty good way to get that out to the masses,” Binion said. “Should he have done a public conference, a hearing in front of everybody? I don’t think he had to do all of that.
“As long as he did something, it’s fine with me,” she said.
“The University regularly communicates with the campus community via e-mail,” Fowler said. The SGA president didn’t say whether he thought President Witt should do any kind of follow-up address on racial issues.
“I think Dr. Witt’s message came through loud and clear,” he said.
