Critics chastise Penn State for racial justice inaction
Too many Penn State faculty members and students of color feel as if they don’t belong at the university, which hasn’t done nearly enough to change that, according to a carousel of speakers Thursday at a racial justice “teach-in” organized by a group of concerned Penn State community members.
More than a half-dozen speakers reminded the audience that Penn State canceled the Center for Racial Justice one year ago. They explained how more Black professors taught in the 1990s than today, and how some commonwealth campuses still don’t have a single African American professor. They spoke about feeling marginalized, unheard and forgotten.
And they reiterated how they were tired of the university saying all the right things — and then seemingly doing none of them.
“Words are just words without action. I want action,” said Mildred Mickle, an associate professor of English at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport. “I want substantive change. I want Penn State to listen to what Black scholars have been saying: Penn State is a place where racism festers and where Black faculty do not feel welcome or respected or safe.”
Thursday’s teach-in, an educational forum held in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Flex Theater, wasn’t just geared toward the Black community, but to all marginalized communities and their supporters. A Native American grad student read a land acknowledgment and discussed his experience, while faculty senator Julio Palma served as the emcee of sorts.
The treatment of the Black community, and the cancellation of the Center for Racial Justice, might’ve just been the most evident examples. Ms. Mickle had many heads nodding in the theater when she responded after reading excerpts directly from the university’s 317-page report on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).
In one example, Ms. Mickle read from an excerpt that acknowledged the university’s low percentage of Black faculty (3.58% tenure-line) while the report’s answer was to “minimize silos and develop a comprehensive faculty hiring program.” Absent in that hefty report was any mention of a timeline or even a hiring goal. Some audience members audibly laughed.
“It is Oct. 19, 2023, and to date, all Penn State has committed to racial justice is another report,” Ms. Mickle added. “You do the math.”
One of those nodding audience members happened to be state Rep. Gina Curry, D-Delaware County, who sat next to state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, and State College Borough Councilman Divine Lipscomb. Ms. Curry, a member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, drove from Harrisburg to address the crowd of about 100 — including more than 60 online and another 30-plus in-person.
She told the Centre Daily Times after the event she wants to help people of color at Penn State to achieve racial justice but, at this point, she’s still figuring out the best way to do that.
“I am not 100% sure how we can put that in place to hold things accountable, and I am absolutely not saying that we hold money back from these institutions that really make a profound difference,” said Ms. Curry, whose daughter graduated from Penn State last December with dual degrees in broadcast journalism and African American studies.
“What I am saying is when there is a continued struggle, when there is an acknowledgment of people saying they’re hurt or harmed, when there is the deletion of an affirmative action process, when there is the cancellation of the racial justice center that felt like a promise and a hope for people who have struggled so long, that’s really when we need to take a hard look at what accountability means.”
Two speakers prerecorded messages for the audience, both of whom made headlines after a highranking university official chided them and four others via email for penning an April letter to the editor critical of the college.
That official, Jennifer Hamer, special adviser for institutional equity, failed to identify herself in the email as the special adviser — or as the spouse of the college’s dean.
More in the crowd laughed at the revelation. But the pre- recorded speaker, Jake Otto, wasn’t laughing.
“It is shameful that that special adviser and administrator who seemingly attempted to intimidate me and my fellow marshals has not done as little as apologize even five months after that episode,” he said.
Change doesn’t come naturally, the speakers intimated. Penn State didn’t simply wake up and decide one day to start teaching African American studies. Universities across the country didn’t suddenly experience eureka and simultaneously begin admitting women and minorities. They had to be persuaded and pressured; the right thing didn’t always seem like the right thing.
So, organizers said, teachins like this will continue indefinitely until real action is finally taken. Another teach- in was held last spring, and another will be planned for next spring.
“You can put as many reports out as you want,” Mr. Lipscomb added. “But, until you put boots on the ground and talk to the people directly impacted, those reports are wasted trees.”