Many of the residents at Eastern University might not know about the events that took place a few months ago at our neighboring school, Cabrini’s campus.
According to local NBC, on Sept. 18, a female freshman, Sennia Vann, was returning from a family outing when she realized that her dorm room door was vandalized with a racial slur after the message “Go away” in black ink. After Sennia reported this to her school, the university released a statement on the following day that said, “the University is fully investigating this report and takes our student safety seriously. Cabrini does not tolerate any form of hate speech or racist language, and our priority remains to ensure our students feel safe and supported.” The university also said that dozens of students came together to redecorate Sennia’s dorm door with positive and supportive messages. The Radnor Police were soon notifi ed, and the campus increased its security.
A few days later, two more dorm room doors of African American students were vandalized with similarly off ensive writing. The university’s response was similar to the fi rst—they held forums to discuss exactly what this act was, and to get to the bottom of it. They also held a hall meeting where students could openly express their discontent and frustration about the recent events.
Like Cabrini, many other universities, such as Temple and American University, have had issues with racist attacks, and the universities have treated the situation similarly by hosting a plethora of forums in hopes of addressing and ultimately eliminating the problem of racism on their campuses.
Many residents of Eastern University are not aware that these events are taking place across the street from us. Eastern’s Black Student League has taken the initiative to discuss these events that have occurred with its group members and allow them to express how they feel about the situation.
As investigations continue into these events and the perpetrators behind them, the students of Cabrini university are trying to improve ethnic relations amongst their community, as well as provide counseling services to those impacted by the slurs and their outcome. Students of Eastern University pray for justice, as well as harmony in the coming semester for this neighboring university.
Sources: Black Student League, NBC