Classes were cancelled at Western Washington University in Bellingham, and many people had questions. Here are answers to the most common questions and complete coverage of the university shutdown.
When and why are classes cancelled at Western Washington University?
Classes were cancelled Tuesday, Nov. 24. President Bruce Shepard said university staff “observed social media being used for hate speech targeted at Western students of color.” He clarified that there was “no threat to general campus safety.”
Why were classes cancelled if there were no general threats?
“We need time to press the criminal investigation and to plan how, as a campus, we will come together to demonstrate our outrage, to listen to each other, and to support each other,” the university president said in a written statement. “So, I have decided to cancel classes today in order to provide that time.”
What was the hate speech specifically?
There were hateful things written about students of color. The hateful words were also posted on 4chan.org, an image-based Internet bulletin board where people can post anonymously.
Where and when were the threats posted?
The threat came through YikYak, a social media smartphone app that allows people with some anonymity to create and view discussion threads within a few miles of their location. It was noticed by Western officials and the decision to cancel classes was announced shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday.
What preceded the threats? What is the issue with the Viking mascot?
There was a story in Western's student newspaper on Nov. 19 about some students and a professor wanting the school's longtime Viking mascot changed. "I think this mascot also reflects a sort of hyper masculine, hyper violent sort of image which is doubly problematic," communications studies professor Michael Karlberg told the Western Front. "I think we really ought to reconsider." The Associated Students Vice President for Diversity, Abby Ramos, told the newspaper the mascot "doesn't portray students of color on this campus and it can be very exclusive to students who are potentially looking at coming to Western." The university president did not address the mascot directly in his statement, but a university spokesman said there were concerns about hate speech on social media posts about the potential mascot change. "We have mobilized to offer support and to provide protection to those specifically targeted by the hate speech," Shepard said in his written statement Tuesday.
Will the Viking mascot be changed?
"Not that I foresee," Shepard wrote on his blog. "For several reasons." Read Shepard's full statement about the mascot discussion here.
Where is Western?
Western Washington University is in Bellingham, Wash. That’s’ a town of about 83,000 people in Whatcom County, about two hours north of Seattle and about an hour and a half south of Vancouver, British Columbia.
How many students are there?
Roughly 15,000 students and 760 faculty.
What is diversity among students?
“The fall 2014 student body was comprised of 3,547 students from ethnic minority groups, in a total student body that numbered 15,060 (23.6%), due both to new enrollment and improved retention,” according to a university statement. “A total of 28.5% of new freshman and 21.5% of new transfers self-reported their racial or ethnic identity as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander."
What's Shepard's background?
Shepard is the 13th president of Western. Follow this link to read more about Shepard, his background and his work at the university. Shepard drew some criticism when, in his inaugural opening convocation speech, he said, "If we are as white in ten years as we are today, Western will have failed as a university." Last year Shepard posted on the university's website that the statement "was intended to be provocative" and that he's made that statement every year since.
What is the full written statement from Western Washington University President Bruce Shepherd?
Yesterday, we observed social media being used for hate speech targeted at Western students of color. I need to be VERY clear here: we are not talking the merely insulting, rude, offensive commentary that trolls and various other lowlifes seem free to spew, willy nilly, although there has been plenty of that, too. No, this was hate speech.
These are likely crimes in my view (and in the view of those in the criminal justice system we immediately involved). I cannot go into the details of an ongoing law enforcement investigation. Other than to assure you that this investigation is the highest priority of our campus law enforcement colleagues.
We do not know if the perpetrators are Western students. If not, they face the criminal justice system. If so, they also face the criminal justice system. And, when it comes to being associated with Western, I promise you it will not be for long.
Law enforcement has advised me of their assessment that, as the situation is currently understood, there is no threat to general campus safety. However, and I trust you stand with me on this: a threat to any one of us is an attack on all of us.
We have welcomed the guidance of our students of color as to how else we might be supportive. We have mobilized to offer support and to provide protection to those specifically targeted by the hate speech. With disturbing social media content continuing through early this morning, students of color have advised me of their very genuine, entirely understandable, and heightened fear of being on campus.
We need time to press the criminal investigation and to plan how, as a campus, we will come together to demonstrate our outrage, to listen to each other, and to support each other. So, I have decided to cancel classes today in order to provide that time.
Have no doubt: this is not a capitulation to those I described as trolls and lowlifes. We are going after them. Rather, the pause is necessary so that we may learn more as we advance the law enforcement investigation and, together, plan responses that will make us stronger. In a phrase I often hear you use, it is because "Western Cares."
While classes are cancelled, the university will continue to be open and operating.
Thank you for being there for all who are Western,
Bruce
TUESDAY COVERAGE OF THE CAMPUS SHUTDOWN
Western Washington University has suspended classes Tuesday after the university’s president said social media was being used for hate speech targeted at Western students of color.
The university confirmed there was an active police investigation.
A post by WWU President Bruce Shepard on the school’s website said he could not go into the details of the ongoing investigation and it was not known if the perpetrators are Western students.
The statement said that police assessed the situation and that there was no threat to general campus safety.
“ With disturbing social media content continuing through early this morning, students of color have advised me of their very genuine, entirely understandable, and heightened fear of being on campus,” Shepard said.
The Western Front, the university's main student newspaper, reported earlier that some were discussing changing the school's mascot, the Viking, because it was too aggressive. Others said the mascot needed to be more inclusive, according to the paper.
The messages in question were seen just days after Shepard posted that the school's mascot would not be changed. Though Shepard said the messages did mention the Viking, he would not explain the context, because it's part of a police investigation.
The school is reaching out to students and providing counseling for them. The school said that it would provide an added layer of security for students of color as well.
WWU students were already scheduled to be off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
While classes are canceled, the university will continue to be open and operating.