Racism: Is UIndy color blind?
“I wanted to say something, but I believe actions speak louder than words,” said African-American senior Antonio Wilson, regarding being discriminated against by another student at UIndy. “I was pissed, because it crossed the line of disrespect.”
His roommate repeatedly used racial slurs and laughed after usage of them. Wilson thought of reporting the incident, however, he decided to fight the battle with silence. He said he couldn’t hold a grudge and decided to let it go.
According to the University of Indianapolis Web site (uindy.edu), UIndy is a diversified campus representing more than 20 U.S. states and more than 50 nations. Approximately 6.5 percent of the students are international.
Nigerian-American senior Adesuwa Ohunwu is just one of those students that has also experienced discrimination on campus, although her experience was not with a peer. It was a professor.
At first, the class seemed normal. Nevertheless, towards the end of the semester she noticed as her work progressed her grades began to suffer.
“I began to do some investigation and started comparing my papers to my [classmates] and I noticed that the same group of people would always get A’s even if their paper was junk,” Ohunwu said. “Whereas, with me, the teacher would always find something to criticize about my work.”
After investigating and seeking professional assistance and criticism, Ohunwu heard her paper was quality work, so she decided to confront the professor about the situation.
“I just asked ‘what was wrong with this paper and why did I receive this grade?’” Ohunwu said. “The teacher looked at me and asked ‘were you born here?’ I said ‘why is this important?’ The professor says ‘well, I notice you have a Jamaican accent and maybe that is affecting your writing ability in the class.’”
According to Ohunwu, at the time she was focusing on her paper, and the discussion between her and the professor seemed absurd. She said the professor continued to say it’s not fair to lower the Chinese grades, because they are not from this country.
She dreaded going to class because of the unfairness implemented towards her.
“This particular situation confused me because, [with] the students who were international, he bumped their grade up, yet because [the professor] thought I was Jamaican, my grade was lowered,” Ohunwu said.
She dreaded going to class because of the unfairness implemented towards her. The occurrence was eventually reported to the dean because matters grew worse.
“Depending on the situation, I am always a resource for students and, if I’m not the right person, I can help them find the right person to talk to,” said Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli. “Certainly we don’t want students to feel discriminated [against] in any way, in any place, whether it’s the classroom or residence halls.”
Ohunwu feels there should be some protection for students. She has heard many accounts of students being mistreated because of gender, sexual orientation or skin color.
“The major concern is what place does that have in the classroom-what place does asking me if I’m Jamaican have in the classroom?” Ohunwu said.
According to Vitangeli the university has made great strides to make sure programming, student body, faculty and staff are diverse. UIndy is constantly looking for ways so to avoid feelings of seclusion or discrimination.
“When I talk to students in general they feel UIndy is a welcoming place, but they certainly run into individuals that are not as open as others,” Vitangeli said. “That is what we need to look at in terms of the university: how do we continue to educate people? Because ultimately, we want everyone to feel comfortable and to feel as if they have a place on campus.”
Chinese student senior Dai (Austin) Yuan says he feels comfortable at UIndy and has never encountered a discriminatory situation. Although Yuan says he does feel there’s not a lot of interaction between different cultures at UIndy.
“UIndy is extremely diverse, and I enjoy meeting new people and learning about their cultures, but it seems everyone doesn’t do that,” Yuan said. “It’s interesting to learn totally different things from other people.”
Both Ohunwu and Wilson commend UIndy for its efforts to make everyone feel comfortable regardless of the gender, race or sexual orientation individuals may exhibit.
Ohunwu said the discrimination is not campus wide, its just certain individuals.
“In the real world, it’s global. There are men, women and minorities; UIndy is a good representation of that,” Ohunwu said. “If someone is discriminating against someone else it just shows the other person’s ignorance.”
