Recently at my school, Xavier University, we have seen three back-to-back reported incidents of bias: two involving swastikas and one involving the usage of the word “nigger.” One of these incidents occurred in the residence hall that I occupy. Recently, I have been thinking about the culture of Xavier University, and how does the culture we create allow these incidents to continue without some form of consequences. For most people looking in from the outside, Xavier appears to be a university rooted in Jesuit values, a university that values diversity of person and diversity of thought, a university that is welcoming and safe and will provide a strong education to its students. While some of this is true, Xavier will provide you with an exceptional …show more content…
I wonder what kind of culture Xavier promotes to its students: is it one of inclusion or one of exclusion? Do I feed into this culture by not always calling out problematic behavior? Why do only some incidents catch our eyes and ears? We, as a community, are at least vaguely aware that Xavier has a constant hum of racism, sexism and homophobia, that we will never eradicate these thoughts and behaviors from our campus, but that doesn’t mean we can't prevent these things from happening. I also think about this unofficial line that the Xavier community has drawn and how that may curb reporting of bias incidents. I know I acknowledge the line because I have had professors and fellow students say things I thought were problematic but for some odd reason I did not believe them to be problematic to report. I know other people know this unspoken line exists. More than anything, this is me rambling my thoughts off about what happens on campus, I may update it when I can form a more coherent thought about it all, but right now I am angry and hurt and sad and disgusted by what has happened on a