Two weeks ago, a racially themed party took place, hosted by UCSD fraternities. Because it was an off-campus event, the students could not be punished by the school, however the fraternities have suspended some of their members. The event, called "The Compton Cookout" was billed as a party "to show our respect" for Black History month- but it advised students on how to dress and act ghetto so they could be "honorary n*****s" for a day. The administration responded by producing buttons that students could wear with the slogan "Not in Our Community," immediately condemning the incident and reaffirming our principles of community, and by publishing the report jointly produced by the Black Student Unions of several UC campuses called, "Do UC Us?"
 
After this occurred, I was pretty embarrassed that this happened on my campus. I felt the party was probably more in poor taste than outright racist, but that the administration had taken appropriate actions to show that this type of behavior would not be tolerated. I especially felt this way after reading the "Do UC Us?" report, where I found out that UCSD admits 2 to 3 times the number of Black students than actually attend each year. In discussing the incident with a friend, he said immediately that he was against affirmative action because it allowed under-qualified applicants into the school. However, when I pointed out that those several hundred students who were accepted, but did not choose to attend, were every bit as qualified as he and I, he changed his mind. I think it's very important that as a school we try to find out why these qualified students are not choosing UCSD, and if we can make this a more welcoming community for them. Obviously after these incidents though, we're going to have even more trouble than before.

Even though it was covered by the local news, I chose not to write about the party because I didn't want to draw more attention to the events. Unfortunately, more recent events have garnered nationwide attention (via an article in The New York Times). 

Last week a controversial paper on campus, The Koala, took over student run TV to air their opinions. The Koala is supposed to be a humorous satire, but personally I find it disgusting and offensive, and something I really wish my student fees didn't support. I'm all for free speech, but the entire publication is designed to be insulting to everyone. I did not see the segment, but apparently they managed to hijack the station without permission in order to tell the school and the world that they thought the administration was overreacting, and that the Black students on campus were basically "ungrateful" whiners for feeling unsafe on campus. The Associated Students froze all funding for student media organizations pending review.
 
Then some bigot decided to give the Black students a real reason to feel unsafe. Last night at sometime around 8PM someone entered the largest library on campus, Geisel, and hung a noose around around a light on the 7th floor. The Guardian (our on campus newspaper) reported to the administration that they had received a note saying to expect more. Today, students responded by wearing black and marching in protest. We are expecting a detailed plan as part of a response from the administration by 5 PM today.
 
I am shocked and horrified that this could happen on my campus. I was attracted to the UC system because of its diversity and commitment to inclusion. I don't know how this could happen. As a white student, I find myself not really knowing what to say or who to say it to, so I'm going to write what I feel here. I can't speak to anyone else's experiences but my own, but I know that Geisel Library is one of my favorite places on campus. It's architecture is distinctive and memorable, and the glass reflects the beautiful sky. Every day I look at it, smile, and feel lucky to be here. If I were ever made to feel that the library was an unsafe place for me, it would be devastating. I can only imagine how my black friends, neighbors, classmates, and teachers must be feeling today. All I can say is I stand with them. The only thing I will not tolerate in my community is intolerance. I hope that all the negative attention our university is getting right now will eventually lead to some constructive work, though it's sad that it had to come to this for the administration to take notice. Finally, I hope that they err on the side of overreacting, as I will say to anyone who protests whatever they decide to do. I doubt my one voice can do much, but I'm sure going to try, because no one wants to see this escalate further. 

To see our university's response please visit http://battlehate.ucsd.edu. The NY Times article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/26/us/AP-US-Black-History-Mock-Party.html