Students at The Evergreen State College Address
Outside Threats of Violence in the Midst of Racial Tension
(OLYMPIA, WA) – June 1st, 2017 – The Evergreen State College campus is shut down due to threats of gun violence by an unknown caller to a Thurston County dispatcher. The caller was likely emboldened by incendiary misinformation in the media bout recent protests on campus.
On the evening of May 31st, KIRO radio held an interview with a white supremacist group who had planned to hold a rally in Portland on Sunday, June 3rd. They announced that they would be heading to the Evergreen State College soon after. The next morning, June 1st, an anonymous call was received by Thurston County officials, who then released a copy of the transcript. The caller stated “I’m on my way to Evergreen University (sic) now with a .44 magnum. I’m going to execute as many people on campus as I can get ahold of. You have that, what’s going on here, you communist scumbag town? I’m going to murder as many people on that campus as I can. Just keep your eyes open, scumbag.”
Although the two incidents occurred around the same time, we have no way of knowing if they are connected. What we can conclude from the nature of these individual threats is that they stem from Evergreen’s newly found spotlight in the national media. The threat of gun violence resulted in a campus-wide closure.
Students of color have faced racial discrimination on and off campus, which has escalated due to current politically-influenced racial tensions. On May 23rd and May 24th, 2017, there were peaceful protests on campus. They targeted manifestations of institutionalized racism in the form of policies that disproportionately affect people of color, trans, queer, undocumented, disabled and indigenous students. The protests also addressed laws in place that are not appropriately adhered to by The Evergreen State College (TESC).
After the protests, a professor chose to misrepresent the nature of the events, effectively silencing black students while bolstering his own public image. This professor has appeared on various national, right-wing media platforms spreading misinformation, manipulating and portraying students’ actions on campus as focused solely on him. In reality, students’ actions were focused on the racist politics, sentiments and behaviors of multiple campus police officers, faculty, staff, administration and students. There is a correlation between this recent threat and the professor’s presence on the most viewed right-wing media platforms in the country. He used his time there to scapegoat “the left” for why he has come under scrutiny. His public presence is directly compromising the safety of the entire Evergreen student body.
Part of the confusion within the media is how Day of Absence and Day of Presence, which are represented as a catalyst in recent events, are conducted at Evergreen. Both days are voluntary and are organized by faculty, staff and students who identify as people of color, along with white passing individuals and white allies. The structure of Day of Absence (DoA) is inspired by Douglas Turner Ward’s play, DAY OF ABSENCE, which addresses race relations in the United States. In the play, African Americans disappear from their town at night, using their absence to illustrate how essential they are to the community.
In the original incarnation of DoA in the 1970s, people of color spent their day working off campus to illustrate the same point made in the play. DoA has since grown into an opportunity for people of color to have workshops and discussions focusing on race and cultural practices. White students have separate workshops on how to support anti-racist activism from a white perspective. The college later added a Day of Presence where both communities come together after DoA to share what they have learned, continue workshops and discussions and create a more united community.
This year the structure of Day of Absence was altered. Instead of hosting the workshops for people of color off campus, and white ally students having their workshops on campus, the organizing administrators decided to invite white students to participate off-campus and invite students of color to remain. This was done partly in light of ongoing political and racial tensions in the U.S. today. The off-campus location for white identifying students required them to pre-enroll to participate. This workshop space had a capacity of 200 spots and not all students who wanted to participate could do so because of the venue size. TESC has around 4,000 students, 2,800 of which identify as white. This means less than 10% of white students were able to participate in these events. Both spaces were open to the public and, despite workshops being geared towards specific groups, both were open to all people of any creed and identity. Participation was voluntary although some classes attended specific workshops and screenings that faculty deemed relevant to their programs.
In light of recent events:
· We demand that George Bridges publically condemn the harmful actions of the professor that put the lives of students, staff, and faculty at risk.
· We demand that the administration be held accountable. We have repeatedly called on them to make a statement asserting that students have not acted or threatened to act violently.
Student at Evergreen are hoping that paid student club coordinators will take cultural sensitivity training, along with staff and faculty in order to work towards a culturally aware learning environment. In general, we want to show other college students that people of color should not be afraid to being silenced any longer.
For more information about the climate of racism at The Evergreen State College contact: StandWithStudents2017@gmail.com