<p>I just heard (from student/neighbor) that a White student and her bf recently attended a party, whose theme was celebs in rehab. as Whitney and husband Bobby. Black students charged insensitivity, to which White students (not the student who appeared as Whitney) respnded - - "get over it."</p>
<p>Neighbor-girl says no official response from the college.</p>
<p>Anyone else heard about this?</p>
<p>There has been an official response from the college. In the past few days, I've received emails from the college president, the SGA, and the faculty council.</p>
<p>What's the official respnse (in a nutshell)?</p>
<p>Both the incident and the responses have been much more complicated than your friend made them out to be, in fact, one of the problems with this whole situation has been gross oversimplification leading to mass hysteria. </p>
<p>The president, the SGA, the faculty council all responded within days of the problem, all with constructive, pro-active steps that can be taken, all aimed at improving smithies' sensitivity to our campus communities and understanding how the things we do, and the way we react, impact everyone at the school. </p>
<p>That being said, I'm not really sure this is a good forum to discuss this incident, just because many of the posters here are not students and both their perspective of campus race relations and their information will be a little second-hand.</p>
<p>I agree with SmithieandProud, and I also don't know enough of the facts of the situation to be able to discuss it.</p>
<p>At neighbor's suggestion, I checked the dailyjolt, e-mails she rec'd from BSA and black alumnae, and a local Springfield article.</p>
<p>I'll take your word on the official respnses - - which I haven't seen/read. But the comment's from the anon students are terribly disappointing; to characterize them as insensitive, unenlightened or even indefensible is a gross understatement.</p>
<p>Very, very troubling - - and sad.</p>
<p>I sincerely hope that the head resident (I won't name her house) didn't actually tell the black students to stop being so "f****** sensitive - - since she speaks in at least a quasi-official capacity.</p>
<p>Again, I don't think that relying on the Jolt (not exactly a fountain of responsible journalism) is the way to go about this, and I don't think relying on second hand accounts is a good way to handle the situation either. </p>
<p>This is primarily a matter for Smith students, since in this incident we reap our own failure to seriously and systematically address problems within our student community, and in the fallout from this incident we suffer from our own hot and cold reactions to a consistent challenge. </p>
<p>I really urge, therefore, that this be left where it belongs, with the Smith students, and that we not try to get it mixed up with the parental and prospective student community, who's perspective will (no offense) be somewhat skewed.</p>
<p>The jolt may not be a fount of responsible journalism, but the number and tennor of posts are troubling.</p>
<p>The number and tenor of Jolt posts about what to have for breakfast can be troubling. I haven't peered into Jolt for a long time simply because it was more useless for figuring out anything about Smith. At best, it's a pointer to things being explored elsewhere. After an initial resource for some Q & A, D found Jolt too be just too full of drama to be of use. In fact, drama for the sake of drama typifies far too many Jolt threads.</p>
<p>You're and Smith/Proud are probab right about the jolt in general, but in this case the jolt posts are consist w/ reports from students (4 in my neighborhood) who are home for T'giving.</p>
<p>The following are two official responses received by students vis-a-vis the Emerson House Celebrity Rehab Blackface Incident: </p>
<p>President Christ - </p>
<p>To the Smith Community:</p>
<p>A disturbing and offensive incident took place at Smith over the weekend. On Friday evening, a Smith student and her male guest came to a theme party in black face and caricatured black clothing and accessories, impersonating black celebrities. When confronted by students who told her they found her costume offensive, the student left the party. She has expressed deep remorse for her actions, and wants to do anything she can to see this issue addressed. </p>
<p>In the hours and days following the party, there has been much posting on Facebook and the Daily Jolt about the incident. Some of the statements are incendiary, racist, deeply offensive, and entirely contrary to the values of Smith College. We all need to ask ourselves hard questions about a campus culture that seems to license anonymous, ignorant, prejudiced, and hurtful comments of this sort.</p>
<p>The corrosive heritage of racism is the greatest burden that our country takes from its history. It is troubling that colleges and universities continue to experience incidents that reflect the bigotry that is so shameful a part of our national past. Because we are colleges and universities, we all need to share in the responsibility to educate ourselves and our communities about racism and privilege and to work together to change our culture.</p>
<p>The recurrence of racist incidents in our culture and on our campus shows us we have much work to do. I will bring the question of how best to move the community forward to the faculty meeting scheduled the week after Thanksgiving. Also in that week, we will hold a campus forum devoted to the issues that this incidentand the responses to it have raised. Going forward, I will charge a group of faculty, staff, and students to advise me about programs we might create to give everyone in our community the opportunity to confront issues of race including an all-college meeting about race, values, and our community at the start of the spring semester.</p>
<p>Just six months ago, Smith adopted a new statement of its mission, in which we affirm the values of the community we seek to be. Smith, it reads, educates women of promise for lives of distinction. This is a charge to all of us, and I ask each of you to consider your role in creating the learning community we all deserve.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Carol T. Christ</p>
<p>The SGA (student government association) - </p>
<p>ear Students, </p>
<p>We would like to take this opportunity to address certain issues brought to our attention by the incident which occurred over this past weekend at the Emerson House Celebrity Rehab party. Incidents such as this one bring to the surface tensions that permeate our community, but are often neglected or suppressed. It is time for our community to discuss these difficult issues and learn from one another. </p>
<p>Being aware of how our individual actions may affect someone else is a capacity that all Smith students should strive to embody. Often times, we are unaware of what our actions may mean to other individuals or groups. Though it may not be our intent to be hurtful, our impact may be taken as such. However, if we make the commitment to be conscious of our actions and words, we can then begin to heal our troubled community.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of this incident, the Smith community has become familiar with the racial connotations associated with black face. Black face to this day carries with it harmful and offensive associations. Knowledge of these negative historical connotations have not permeated all facets of our society and many segments of our community were never made aware of the seriousness of this action. Let us take this opportunity to educate one another and let us take this opportunity to improve our multicultural understanding of the different cultures that comprise our Smith community.</p>
<p>President Christ has outlined some immediate steps the College will take in order to address the underlying issue of racism in our community. However, it is our individual responsibility to ourselves as well as to the Smith community to participate in the discussions in a constructive and effective manner. Though we may be critical of the college administration for seeming to react only in response to certain incidents, we ourselves must not be reactionary. Various student organizations and facets of the Smith community hold open, campus-wide events that address important issues-like race-which are often poorly attended.</p>
<p>Once again, we challenge you, our peers, to be aware of your actions and their possible implications to those you may encounter throughout your day. Together, we live in a diverse community and together, we must act with respect within this community. We encourage you to contact your Residential Life staff, the Class Deans Office, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Counseling Services.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Your Student Government Association</p>
<p>Thanks, Bea!</p>
<p>I thought the administration and SGA responses (and their timeliness) are excellent (and put my alma mater's response to "Happy Birthday Hitler" posters hung on Jewish students' doors to shame. (There, the chaplain held a forum, only 17 students attended - virtually all Jewish - and not a single member of the administration chose to even turn up.)</p>
<p>What wonderful responses. Thank you, Bea, for posting them.</p>