Students sit in until WSU stands up

Student minority groups made their demands known to Washington State University leadership Friday during a sit-in outside the Office of the President amid what they say are acts of racism at WSU.

It was an emotional event that left several protesters and Kimberly Anderson of the Office of Equal Opportunity in tears as students chanted, carried signs and shared stories of racism they had experienced on campus.

"I'm promising you that we will make a difference," Anderson told protesters with tears in her eyes.

But some students appeared unmoved by the statement. Several expressed frustration that they had heard the same responses from leadership for years - most recently from WSU President Kirk Schulz.

"You should not be saying thank you [for our stories]," one woman said from the crowd. "You should be sorry for not making it a safe place in the first place."

Members of the Black Student Union, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, the Asian Pacific American Student Coalition and other minority groups called upon the immediate action of Schulz, Anderson, Board of Regents Vice Chair Ron Sims and Provost Dan Bernardo to implement five actions to reduce racism at WSU.

Those actions include creating policy defining free speech versus hate speech; implementing required cultural competency and ally training for all first-year students, faculty and staff; retaining and protecting critical culture, gender and race studies and resource centers; hiring more staff and faculty of color; and creating more gender-inclusive facilities.

Bernardo, Anderson and Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications, were present Friday to hear students' concerns, saying they would personally meet with students that day to discuss their concerns.

Schulz was away from his office Friday in American Samoa, where Weiler said he sought to understand the needs of American Samoan students on campus.

The trip was scheduled in July after 22-year-old Robert Barber, a Cougar football player from American Samoa, was found not guilty of second-degree assault by a jury.

The Spokesman Review reported state Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said Barber was treated like a "savage animal" by WSU, something he suggested was due to racial profiling.

One woman, who appeared to be with the Asian Pacific American Student Coalition, asked the WSU leaders why Schulz would go to American Samoa rather than asking American Samoan students on campus about their needs.

After the sit-in, Weiler told the Daily News the university should be doing both.

Other students asked why former WSU College Republicans President James Allsup had not been expelled from the university for his speech and his association with the "Unite the Right" rally in Virginia. They also questioned why his organization had been allowed to build a wall on campus to support then-presidential candidate Donald Trump last year, arguing for a differentiation between speech and hate speech, which would not be protected under the law.

Bernardo addressed the crowd, saying he needed to use his privilege to affect change at the university, which he said is under watch by several free speech protection groups who wish to sue the university if it appears free speech has been smothered.

Bernardo said Sims, a regent, has committed to coming to the university to have discussions with leaders of the minority groups and address concerns, and Schulz is also prepared to meet with students as early as Thursday afternoon. He will return from American Samoa that morning.

"There is no place at WSU for violence, for hate," Bernardo told the crowd.

Taylor Nadauld can be reached at (208) 883-4630, by email to tnadauld@dnews.com and on Twitter @tnadauldarg.