The Black Student Organization at the University of Nevada, Reno held a protest in front of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center to take a stand against repeated racist incidents that they say have not been properly addressed by the university. This protest comes after an incident in Argenta Hall on the seventh floor where a student was filmed yelling racial slurs in the early morning hours of April 5.
A large crowd gathered on the steps of the KC, many holding large signs with messages condemning racism, like: “Be a buddy, not a b—” and “Hate 4 One is Hate 4 All”. There were many loud chants and their voices could be heard across the campus.
Initially believed to be a white student, the student who yelled the slurs has since identified themselves as a person of color according to a social media post by BSO. The protest addresses not only this incident, but others that protest organizers and attendees feel have gone unaddressed.
Virchelle Banks, BSO president and an organizer of the protest, feels confident they were noticed by members of the campus community.
“I feel like we were really loud and people heard us,” said Banks. “I remember us shouting and just hearing our voices echo in the parking garage that’s right across from the KC.”
Banks says the point of the protest was to make sure people hear them out.
“It’s not a black versus white issue, it’s not a race against race issue,” said Banks. “We just want people to hear where we’re coming from. We want to make this university inclusive and as diverse as they say it is.”
Many students and faculty stopped by to watch the protest. Some would walk up the steps to join them in the chants.
“I feel like people think things like this are a joke, or that it’s funny when you say the n-word,” said Daisy Partey, UNR student. “I don’t think it’s something that we should just brush over, we’re in the day and age where people should know better.”
Evan Robinson, senator-elect for the College of Liberal Arts, was at the protest and gave a speech and organized chants for the crowd.
During his speech, Robinson emphasized that black students only make up four percent of the student body, and that they need support from not only within the black community, but support from non-black people.
He says that many of the black students at UNR either transfer or drop out of the university, and he believes a big reason is hate speech that goes unaddressed.
“When we don’t hold those folks accountable, what does that tell the campus community? What does that tell white supremacists? What does that tell people who think about hurting black or brown lives? It tells them that it’s okay and they have a pass to do it.”
Robinson wants to revisit this during his time as a new ASUN senator, and wants to use his platform to make change on campus.
“As a senator-elect for ASUN, I do plan on following up on this and really utilizing our inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility committee to really try to create some legislation that’s going to implement training for residents,” said Robinson. “Ultimately, this is because there’s no training. Diversity, equity and inclusion is not made a priority.”
Following the protest, BSO held a post-protest workshop in the Multicultural Center in the Joe Crowley Student Union, where people could socialize, grab food and water, and reflect on the protest.
Nick Stewart can be reached at **@***********nr.edu or on Twitter @nickk_stewart.
