Students Call Out Lack of Administrative Response to On-Campus Hate Crimes

A flyer calling "Gaels to Action," a student-organized event. 

Image c/o Associated Students, the IC, and CWGE

By Andrew Martinez Cabrera
Editor-in-Chief

By Andrew Martinez Cabrera
Editor-in-Chief

On April 25, ABC7 News published an exclusive story concerning various, escalatory on-campus hate crimes that Oakland residents Tia Hunnicutt and James Brickley believe were targeting their freshman son. The first administrative response regarding the hate crimes dates back to March 23, when an email was sent out by Jim Scuito, Vice President of Student Life, on behalf of Nathan Johnson, Executive Director of Campus Safety & Transportation.

The March 23 email details an incident that occurred in the restrooms of Korth Hall and near Cafe Louis involving “property damage, threatening language, and racial slurs…” in which Campus Safety and the Moraga Police Department (MPD) were investigating the scene with no suspects. 

On March 26, a follow-up email was sent, which provided an update to the prior report of hate crimes, stating that since the bathroom incidents, “further hate speech has been reported in first year [sic] residence halls,” alluding to the hate crimes which ABC7 would later report on in more detail.

In response to the incidents, the email explained that Campus Safety increased patrols around the impacted central campus areas. Additionally, student-driven educational campaigns were planned to appear after Spring break, alongside programming concerning bias prevention, led by Student Life.

The ABC7 article provided insight into the hate crimes that were reported in the email, in which the freshman student told his parents that students were outside of his dorm room, shouting expletives and racial slurs. A video snippet recorded by the student appeared in the ABC7 report, showing students yelling. The incident was reported to his residential assistant and campus advisors, but the freshman student told ABC7 that nothing came of it. 

The freshman student also took a photo of his dorm floor’s communal bathroom, where “Kill [N-Word]s” was carved into the door. This occurred weeks after the original incident and was the incident that prompted the original series of emails. 

The student’s parents met with President Roger Thompson following the bathroom incident. According to his mother, Tia Hunnicutt, President Thompson told them to consider moving their son out of Saint Mary’s as a response to their hate crimes. President Thompson also expressed understanding if the family considered moving the student out of Saint Mary’s

The Office of the President sent out an email addressing the media report that Friday afternoon, in which President Thompson claims that “accurate facts and contexts were not disclosed” in the ABC7 report. He goes on to say that, in addition to the still-active investigation by MPD, several mandatory meetings concerning the hate crimes had occurred in the resident halls. 

The email also revealed that “Door-knock visits with students in the resident hall in question” had taken place to “remind students of community standards.” As of the time of writing, the perpetrators have not been identified, reprimanded, or charged with any crime. 

President Thompson writes that follow-up communication providing updates to the family was without a reply as of April 25. The family, however, told ABC7 that Saint Mary’s had not answered their emails since April 4. 

Simultaneously, a video message from President Thompson was posted on Saint Mary’s social media pages. In the video, President Thompson told the Saint Mary’s community that “vile, awful, racist, and hateful speech and acts will not be tolerated at SMC.” On top of “reviewing all policies and procedures,” he also invites students to help build a more positive community. 

The video posted on Saint Mary’s official Instagram account, with more than 140 comments, expressed disappointment and anger with the lack of an administrative response to the on-campus hate crimes. One alumnus comments that President Thompson’s message is “empty, robotic, and completely devoid of compassion.” Another alumni student, who in their comment reveals they went through a similar situation, points out that “the RAs and RDs are not equipped to handle these situations. I am saddened to hear that 24 years later, that is STILL happening.”

Contemporary students have also expressed their disappointment. One student writes: “Every year I have friends leave this school because of how much they get bullied here.” Another student user comments that despite the school promising change, the trend only continues: “Sports and money somehow matter more than the departments that we are learning from, the professors, the students, and most of all the COMMUNITY.”

Additionally, multiple club organizations have published statements addressing President Thompson’s official response. In their collective statement posted on their Instagram page, Saint Mary’s Black Student Union (BSU) wrote that despite the acknowledgment of the hate crimes, they are “deeply saddened and increasingly frustrated by the ongoing nature of these acts – particularly in light of the lack of consequences for the perpetrators.” The BSU called for serious action and offered solidarity with the targeted student. 

SMC Survivors, a club organization that deals with sexual assault and harassment survivor support, also posted on their Instagram page. Their beginning statement paired with a screenshot of the ABC7 article reads: “Patterns, patterns, patterns. Enabling, enabling, enabling. Shame, shame, shame.” The organization also stands in solidarity with the student. 

On April 28, a flyer was sent out to club organization leaders via email (Note: The Collegian was emailed  as well, since it is a club organization). The flyer shared information for an event titled “Calling Gaels to Action,”  sponsored by Associated Students (AS), the Intercultural Center (IC), the Center for Women and Gender Equity and SMC Survivors.

The flyer urges students to share their stories in order to mobilize and secure a plan of action from the administration that eradicates intersectional forms of discrimination on campus. They will meet on Wednesday, April 30, in the Claeys Lounge from 7-9pm. QR codes have also been attached to the flyer so that those stories can be shared if students cannot attend the meeting.
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Image c/o Andrew Martinez Cabrera
Above: A sign on the first floor of Dante, titled "Expel Racists," ask students to "Share your thoughts/experiences about racism at SMC." It has since been taken down.

Several copies of the flyer were distributed around campus, approved by Student Involvement, as well as a makeshift poster taped to the wall that calls out Saint Mary’s as a racist institution. These large, brown posters invite students to write down their experiences with racism at the college. Several of those flyers have been taken down by Campus Safety. At this time, there is no response from Saint Mary’s in regard to the student responses.