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Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 105, NO. 6
T H U R S DAY, F E B RUA RY 21 , 2 019 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
wfuogb.com
Photo sparks conversation on race An image of a student wearing a rope with ambiguous intentions was reviewed through the BIR BY OLIVIA FIELD News Editor fielor17@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University
On the Check Your Blind Spots Tour bus, students could participate in multiple activities to learn more about implicit bias. One of the stations, pictured above, featured a virtual reality simulation for students to experience.
CEO Action Bias Tour visits campus Stations on the Action Bias tour bus allowed students to explore unconscious biases BY CAROLINE WALKER Asst. News Editor walkct18@wfu.edu On Monday, Feb. 18, the CEO Action Check Your Blind Spots Unconscious Bias Tour visited Wake Forest. The tour bus, which contained several different educational and interactive modules and activities that informed people about unconscious bias, was open to the public in Lot N, known as Kitchin Circle, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The goal of the tour was to provide an opportunity to gain insight into the unconscious biases people encounter on an everyday basis, to learn about potential actions to alleviate the issue of unconscious bias and to commit to improving one’s approach to unconscious bias by signing the I Act On pledge.
José Villalba, vice president for Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer, commented on how the Check Your Blind Spots Tour contributes to Wake Forest’s aims of achieving diversity and inclusion on campus. “I think experiences such as the tour present members of our community with a chance to engage in diversity and inclusion discussions,” said Villalba. “The interactive and informative nature of the bus, both multi-sensory and heterogenous, lets the participant process the information with breadth and/or depth.” “Overall, I think these sorts of events and opportunities impact our community in a positive way, not because these discussions are always pleasant or interesting, but because the more we explore inclusion and equity, the more we will value each other and our contributions to our campus environment,” said Villalba. Through informational and engaging modules titled “Wake-Up Call,” “Look
Through a Different Lens,” “Face Yourself, Face Reality,” “What Does Your Network Look Like?” and “Perspective Matters,” participants were encouraged to identify instances of unconscious biases and grapple with the presence of sexual, racial, gender or cultural stereotyping that appeared in realistic scenarios. Tour Manager Ryan Mosher explained that even though people encounter biases on a regular basis, it is important to spread awareness of these biases in order to encourage others to engage in preventative measures or action against these biases. “The tour shows biases that other people experience on a daily basis and shows how many different biases there are against everyone,” said Mosher. Moving through the stations on the bus, one was able to gain a wider perspective on the variety of biases that unconsciously appear throughout daily life and to think about ways to challenge these biases.
See Tour, Page 6
On Saturday, Feb. 9, students began to circulate a photograph that depicted an unidentified male student with a rope draped across his back and shoulder, which many students interpreted to be a noose. The photo, which was taken at the Subway on campus, was originally uploaded to the Snapchat story of an account with the screen name “Becca” at approximately 3 a.m. on Feb. 9. Screenshots of the Snapchat quickly circulated among students. It remains unclear who the person who originally uploaded the photo is. As some interpreted the rope to be a symbol of historical racist violence, a Bias Incident Report (BIR) was subsequently filed. The official Bias Incident group concluded that the incident was a misunderstanding. “The student in question was impersonating a cowboy by wearing a Western-style shirt with part of an American flag on it and a lasso across his chest and shoulder,” said José Villalba, vice president of Diversity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer, in an email to the Old Gold & Black. However, sophomores Miles Middleton and Fadi Narouz, among others, said they understood the photo to be an individual wearing a noose around his neck. Middleton, who saw a screenshot of “Becca’s” photo on another student’s Snapchat story, shared the image with the Old Gold & Black. The caption on the photo read: “Lmao whoever this dude is or if I find out who are ! I will strangle you with that f**king noose you piece of sh*t!! People at Wake bro, y’all playing with life fr.” Narouz and Middleton, who are both Student Government senators, said they decided to discuss the photo with their colleagues during the weekly Student Government General Assembly on Feb. 12. In this session, senators also discussed a variety of contemporary racial issues that have been occuring on campus; the conversation included issues centered around students of color being denied entry from Greek Life parties, Caucasian students behaving rudely to employees of color, students of color being sent racist material from other students while in class, students of color being scared to enter certain spaces on campus and students of color being the only people of color on their halls or having their roommates request to switch.
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