Report highlights ongoing racism at 10 Pa. State System universities

More than one Black university student recalled being compared to an animal. Another found a Confederate flag on his dormitory door. Others spoke of white peers saying, “I hate Black people.”

And there was this anecdote which, like the others, was shared with a Pennsylvania senator traveling the State System of Higher Education to gauge the extent of campus harassment against students of color.

“Get out (racial slur),” someone wrote on a dorm room door. The message was quickly covered over, though the only repercussion was a conversation with those involved, the student said.

During a news conference Tuesday, state Sen. Art Haywood, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, released a report based on the listening tour he conducted across the 10 state-owned universities. It contained dozens of such recollections from students who were not identified by name or campus but who described experiences — inside and outside the classroom — that left them feeling isolated or unsafe.

The listening tour and the report, titled “Enough,” followed a Spotlight PA report in August 2020 about recurring racial harassment at State System schools. The Spotlight PA report, “Denounce, Discuss, Repeat,” was published months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and the racial reckoning across the U.S. that followed.

Between April 2022 and November 2023, he met with students at PennWest University’s California, Clarion and Edinboro campuses, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock in Western Pennsylvania, as well as Cheyney, Commonwealth, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, Shippensburg and West Chester universities.

The senator said his visits validated Spotlight’s findings.

“Black and brown students in the state system are alienated from the campus community in ways that are damaging to the students personally, to the Black and brown school community, and to the schools collectively,” the report’s executive summary stated.

During the news conference at West Chester University, Haywood said he has no doubt traveling to other colleges would yield comparable examples of harassment.

“I don’t want people to leave and think this is in any way unique to the State System,” he said. “The only thing that is unique is their willingness to get engaged in the challenge.”

The resulting 27-page report included areas that needed to be addressed, which it dubbed “Fix the Six.” Here are some of the recommendations:

• End racial harassment and speech.
• Nurture and retain students of color.
• Organize an incident reporting system.
• Unveil mandatory diversity training.
• Generate mental health resources.
• Hire faculty and staff of color.

Even before the listening tour’s completion, a host of changes were being made by State System leaders, including Chancellor Daniel Greenstein. At Tuesday’s event, Greenstein said, “The hate and the prejudice that these students speak to harm each and every one of us.”

In August 2020, the system hired Denise Pearson as vice chancellor and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. Individual campuses made similar moves.

PennWest University plans to work closely with individual campus academic services to foster mentorship and create leadership programs, according to the report.

“Students are required to complete the ‘Get Inclusive’ DEI training,” it said. “There were nine new trainings conducted for student leaders, one new training conducted for professional development, and seven DEI and social justice trainings conducted for athletics.”

To promote inclusive teaching practices at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the Center for Teaching Excellence established a DEI course, which is in final review before a full training schedule is put into effect, the report stated.

The campus also introduced a two-week summer intensive course on building inclusive teaching practices. It was attended by 56 staff members, the report said.

During the news conference, Haywood put a teddy bear on the podium as he spoke of a freshman soccer player whose favorite stuffed animal was stolen from her dorm room.

“She sees the teddy bear being lynched by a teammate on social media. She’s devastated. She calls her parents. Can you imagine that?” he asked. “This was a freshman. Eighteen years old.”

The senator said the player responsible was suspended for a game but allowed to participate in the team’s closing ceremony. The victim withdrew from school.

Elsewhere, he said, a science instructor used black Legos during a classroom experiment. He labeled them with a derogatory term while looking directly at a Black student.

One student who joined the news conference remotely was Olivia “Liv” Strother, a biology major whose father is Black and mother is white. She said PennWest Clarion “truly changed my life. Attending college was my biggest dream come true. The nerves. The excitement.”

But while she experienced diversity there, she also found “there are no rules for racism.’’ After a couple months, other Black students said she was “whitewashed” and made fun of her appearance. White students also delivered epithets.

She stopped walking home from work-study for safety reasons after a white middle-aged man confronted her as she prepared to cross a street near campus one day. “He asks where I’m from and where I live. He starts following me.”

In class, she said, she sometimes feels racially profiled but also has had professors who have mentored her and helped her grow.

“At the end of the day, I love my college. I love my peers, and I love most of my professors,” she said. “I am the voice of many students of color, and I’m proud to use my voice.”

Last February, an incident at IUP highlighted the problem. A now-former student made a derogatory post on social media after “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was performed before a men’s basketball game on campus. The song often is described as the Black national anthem.

Across the State System, underrepresented minorities comprise almost 20% of the State System’s 85,000. Once on campus, they fare differently than their white peers, according to State System data.

Among white students, 79% continue to their second year versus 67% for underrepresented students generally, 64% for Black students and 69% for Hispanic students.

About 62% of white students graduate in six years, compared with 38% of underrepresented minorities generally, 44% of Hispanic students and 33% of Black students.