UNCA Student Protest, Occupy the Quad, April 12th

Press release from Occupy the Quad:

OUR MISSION

Occupy the Quad is a collective of students who want to bring to light the issues of Title IX mishaps, poor administration practices, the culture of racism, lack of resources for people dealing with mental health/disabilities, policy hypocrisy, and malpractices of campus police. Our goal is to unify the student body, regardless of race, sexuality, class standing, age, religion, national origin, disability, political affiliation, as well as bringing those together of different clubs and organizations to help express our concerns. We are not trying to produce one event and continue on with our lives. We want this to be an ongoing project that shows administration that we need the culture of our university to change in order to achieve the “diverse, safe” campus they tell us that it is. We are calling for an end to the normalization of sexual misconduct and the failure to take action of it.

TITLE IX

Title IX is the administrative contact for students who have dealt with sexual assault cases and wish to file a report. It is then Title IX’s responsibility to file for an investigation and punish the perpetrators. There have been too many accounts of students who have gone to Title IX, and have either been turned away immediately, not had their cases followed through with, or the perpetrators have been found guilty and still walk this campus freely while the victims have to deal with the mental repercussions on the assailant’s actions. If our administration is going to put such a heavy hand on sexual assault on our campus, then they must do more to ensure the safety of victims and guarantee that they are treated with the thorough care and respect they deserve.

In addition, In May of 2018 UNCA offered an honorary degree to William Murdock, co-founder of Eblen charities, despite their knowledge of him being found guilty of a sexually violent act against a teen in 1988. This further exemplifies UNCA’s pattern of failing to acknowledge sexual assault as an issue on our campus.

CAMPUS POLICE MISCONDUCT

The main job of the campus police should be to protect the students of UNCA and this campus. And while there are certain precautions and rules that the CP have to make sure are kept in line, there are many instances of unfair/unnecessary practices and well as inappropriate uses of power. Claims such as non preemptive fines, scare tactics, and harassment are all things that students have come forward about struggling with on campus. This has gone as far as students making reports about specific instances, being turned away by administration, as well as no consequences for the officers involved.

We acknowledge the importance of police presence on our campus, as long as those officers are keeping us safe, and not instilling fear in students.
ILLUSIONS OF DIVERSITY

UNCA administration prides itself on being a culturally diverse campus. Though at first glance it may seem as such, our demographics prove otherwise. Our campus is made up of roughly 3,500 students, about 2,700 (78.4%) of those students are white. The remaining 800 students are broken down as such: ~150 (4.3%) black students , ~200 (5.8%) hispanic students, ~70 (1.9%) asian students, and ~350 (10%) other or unknown.

Further, of our black student population roughly 40 (25%) are somehow connected to the UNCA athletics department.

We feel as though these statistics do not to justice in labeling ourselves as a diversified campus. Minority students of UNCA should not be a tactic to appeal to potential students, especially if we do not even have the demographic to support such claims. These practices are tokenistic and derogatory to the minority population of UNCA.

MENTAL HEALTH, DISABILITY & GENDER IDENTITY MALPRACTICES

The university fails to uphold its promise of accessible support for mental health and inclusion of all gender identities, which is further damaging to both students who suffer from mental illness, as well as victims of sexual assault who can not access the support that they need. Students in crisis have been told to wait up to three weeks before receiving medical attention. Students report the failure of counselors to follow up with cases, failing to give those suffering from mental illness adequate help and support. Students dealing with anxiety and depression cannot receive the immediate attention that they require, and waiting on an unreliable health center puts these students in danger.

UNCA claims that victims of sexual assault can easily come forward and report any incident of sexual misconduct and receive the help and the support that they need, yet they inadvertently further harm victims by directing them to campus police. Campus police has proved to be an unreliable source of help for victims, making it nearly impossible for students to safely come forward.

In addition, there is a gap in mental health and gender identity training among UNCA faculty/professors. Multiple students have come forward with claims outlining their frustrations with UNCA professors disregarding or invalidating student mental health conditions as well as gender identity. We feel as though it is necessary to bridge this gap and educate faculty to ensure a safe and suitable environment for students affected by these factors.

CONCLUDING STATEMENT

These issues are just some of the instances that we are trying to bring to light. Our main goal is to show administration through student involvement how serious we are about these issues until we see policies being rewritten. We are not here to expose victims of any source but are working with other groups to create a path of discourse where their stories can be given to administration to seek closure and change.

Further, we would like to add that Occupy the Quad is in no way directly affiliated with any student employee unions such as the RA’s or other authorities. But the issues we are concerned about are the same and we are overly grateful for the work and change they are doing.

Finally, we would like to iterate that the protest planned for Friday April 12th will be a peaceful and student led event. We look forward to meeting, sharing ideas, and working with all of you who have shown support. We also encourage individuals to come forward and share their stories if they have been affected by any of the above concerns or other.

We must stand together, as many of us as possible, to prove to our administration how truly concerned we are as a student body. Occupy the Quad is a movement built upon a foundation of love and support for all of those among us who have fallen victim.

Thank you. -OTQ

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-at-asheville/student-life/di versity/chart-ethnic-diversity.html