Slur mars U.Va. student's second day of class

[hoosier]

Slur mars U.Va. student's second day of class

Shannon Benson
By PHILIP WALZER, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 1, 2005

Shannon Benson had dreamed since she was 6 of attending the University of Virginia, “the premier university in our state.”

The 18-year-old from Chesapeake got her wish this summer, with a full academic scholarship.

But last Thursday, on the second day of class , she also got a rude welcome.

As she waited to cross the street to return to her dorm after lunch, a white pickup truck went by. Its driver spat out a racial slur as he passed the crowd of pedestrians.


“I was the only black person in the group,” she said Wednesday .

“I knew he was talking to me.”

The comment – her first brush with racism – stunned Benson, who broke into tears. No one else, she said, offered her a word of consolation.

“I’m trying to move past it,” said Benson, an aspiring finance major, “but I just don’t know if something else is going to happen.”

It wasn’t the only hate incident at U.Va. last week. Four more were reported – two more slurs shouted at students and two scrawled outside dorm rooms – overshadowing the start of class.

U.Va. spokeswoman Carol S. Wood said police have not made any arrests. They don’t know if the perpetrators were students or local residents.

U.Va.’s president, John T. Casteen III , and the rector of its board, Thomas F. Farrell II , issued statements of outrage.

“All of us belong here,” Casteen wrote, “all deserve to live in circumstances that sustain academic and personal success, and no one deserves to be abused and insulted as many of our sisters and brothers were this weekend.”

Nine percent of U.Va.’s undergraduates are black. One of them, senior Wyatt Robinson of Roanoke, said his reaction “has not been one of surprise.”

In 2002 , a few students attended a fraternity party in blackface.

The next year, a biracial woman running for student president was physically assaulted by a man who screamed racial epithets.

Still, Robinson doesn’t fault the administration. “I’ve been comfortable at U.Va., and I think the administration and the university community are fairly embracing of diversity,” said the 21-year-old marketing and management major.

Casteen and the board set up committees to encourage diversity, and Casteen is soon expected to name a “chief officer of diversity.”

Four years ago, Wood said, a segment called “Voices of Diversity,” featuring monologues from gay, female, white and minority students, was added to freshman orientation.

Benson’s parents aren’t sure it’s enough.

“We spent several days on the Lawn,” said Calvin O. Benson , an engineer with the Navy.

“We had a real, real good feeling about it. We never felt there was any type of racism attached to it at the time. Now I’m not so sure I have that feeling about the university.”

He and his wife, Sherrilyn , believe U.Va. should create stricter penalties for hate attacks and should do more to train students to report them.

Wood said officials are encouraging students to report incidents and will soon put a reporting mechanism on the university’s Web site.

U.Va.’s student honor code does not cover hate speech; students themselves would have to approve that addition in a referendum.

The Standards of Conduct , separate from the honor system, don’t address written or oral racial attacks, Wood said, but the attackers could still be prosecuted under the standards.

The incidents have depressed Danny Rubin , a white senior from Virginia Beach and a member of the executive board of Sustained Dialogue , which brings together an array of students in regular discussion groups.

“We’ve made significant strides,” said Rubin, a 21-year-old history major.

“But it’s hard to affirm that when things continue to happen almost at the same rate as they were happening before.”

Rubin appreciated Casteen’s letter. But “in the end, he can’t do it; it has to be the students.”

More than 250 gathered at a rally Saturday , and several, including Benson, wore black shirts Monday in silent protest against racism.

Benson said that though she was stung by the silence of the witnesses, other students have been supportive. “They have told me they were really surprised and that this behavior is not acceptable.”

But she’s taking fewer chances now, avoiding walking alone, especially at night. The prospective banker is trying to immerse herself in classes, “but it’s kind of hard not to think about it.”

Benson, who graduated from Oscar F. Smith High School with a 3.8 average, wrote a letter to the student newspaper challenging students to report the problems they see.

She’s not leaving U.Va.

“It was a transformation,” said her mother, Sherrilyn , a general manager for a Lens-Crafters store. “Her first instinct was 'I want to come home. I want to transfer to William and Mary.’ Now she wants to stay there and fight and make a difference.”