The incident lasted a few minutes, maybe less. It took longer to voice the offensive slur than it took to consider shouting it out in the first place. Initially, it only involved two students, but within 24 hours, it became the talk of the University after President Witt sent a terse, vague e-mail.
The story was soon pieced together with the help of rumors and hearsay on Twitter and through word of mouth. Since then, the facts have revealed an incident that is highly embarrassing for, not just one student but also for his associations, the student body as a whole and the administration. Everyone linked with the University suffered.
I am not saying similar incidents have not happened before, but this particular event lit the necessary matches to spark a fire that still burns today.
There are numerous angles and players within this story, and many individuals spanning all reaches of campus could arguably share responsibility for vastly different reasons. Blaming them though, rightly or wrongly, will not solve any problems. This would ruin any chance of realizing a more unified student body and administration.
I do not have the senseless belief that we can eradicate racism on this campus or off of it. I am not qualified to speak on that matter, and that’s not even what I’m trying to get at.
The fact is that we as UA students are not comfortable with each other. This transcends race, socioeconomic background and other demographical categories. It certainly does not apply to every student or every group, but the feeling is prevalent. I have heard it and discussed it with too many people far too often for it not to be.
For some reason, we all enroll here and soon the associations that we make begin to divide us instead of uniting us. I am talking about the major organizations and segments on campus as well as the smaller groups and the students who decide to not become involved. Instead of collaborating to work towards the betterment of the University as a whole, we tend to work selfishly and independently for our particular associations and ourselves. We are all guilty.
I do not imagine a day when a UA student no longer hesitates to sit down next to an unknown fellow student to eat lunch. Nor do I imagine a day when all UA students work to make campus some utopian dream.
Though actions and tangible results may be the easiest way to measure success and what students here demand in order to believe in progress, neither makes a practical gauge for how strongly we should believe that this university is on the right track.
If we have the predisposition to distrust what others tout as progress, then the actions and results that we originally desired will not matter. A feeling of hope and trust must be ingrained in the entire student body for any steps forward to impact the UA culture.
As affirmed by last Friday’s incident, that feeling is delicate. It only takes one brief, ill-advised moment for that mutual campus feeling to shatter, so we must be careful.
We have reached a perfect point to begin building this feeling and the UA identity, even though it took an unfortunate incident to drive us here.
Communities across the entire country deal with problems similar to ours, but that cannot be a reason to give up. Our problems seem to affect us to a much larger extent, which should prove that we there are precedents to what we can accomplish.
I am asking you to believe that something is possible and ongoing even though you may not be able to see the entire process. I am asking this after an incident that does not bode well for any of us, and I am asking this on behalf of the future of this university.
We cannot allow this moment to pass by and return to business as usual. We must begin to trust each other.
Wesley Vaughn is a junior majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs on Wednesdays.
