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Resident debate Student, professor field death threats amid debate on diversity training BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ince a Western Carolina University student took to national news this month to air her concerns about the school’s gender and racial diversity training for resident assistants, a discussion about inclusivity, tolerance and how to interact with people of differing worldviews has been swirling through the Catamount community. Katie Sanders, a junior in health sciences from Franklin, spoke to Fox News after going through the mandatory training required of her as a resident assistant at WCU, and the outlet published a story Jan. 7 that quoted Sanders and another RA anonymously. Then on Jan. 10, Sanders appeared on “Fox and Friends First” with Chris Stirewalt, a senior in marketing who is also coordinator for the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, to go on the record. “The training was basically from one point of view,” Sanders told The Smoky Mountain News. “The training claimed that it was providing multiple points of views to RAs, but it wasn’t. It was from strictly one left agenda. I didn’t agree with it. It went against my beliefs as a Christian, and I didn’t think that was fair that we should be mandated to watch something like Rainbow 101.”
January 19-25, 2022
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RA TRAINING
Smoky Mountain News
Rainbow 101 is a one-hour virtual course and was just one of many training sessions RAs are required to take in preparation for their role as frontline student employees. RAs — whose job requires them to live in campus dormitories and provide guidance and help to students living in the dorms — are often the first contact for residents dealing with a variety of issues while living away from home for the first time. Each semester, prospective RAs must go through hours of training, with topics ranging from fire safety to mental health. The diversity and inclusion portion of the training included Rainbow 101 and Stereotypes Intent v. Impact, with an optional Rainbow 201 session. Professional staff from the WCU Office of Intercultural Affairs Office taught these diversity and inclusion sessions. WCU provided a copy of the 15-slide PowerPoint presentation used for the virtual Rainbow 101 course. Stated objectives included increasing self-awareness, knowledge and skills related to the LGBTQ community, gaining exposure to and knowledge of concepts related to gender and sexual identity, learn8 ing basic terminology and vocabulary, and
Western Carolina University students Katie Sanders and Chris Stirewalt appeared on Fox & Friends First Jan. 10 to express their concerns with the diversity training. Image from Fox News broadcast receiving practical tips for how to demonstrate respect for members of the LGBTQ community. Students watched two 4-minute videos: a spoken word poetry video titled “Homophobia in 2018: Time for Love” that depicts a young man deciding whether he dares to kiss his boyfriend goodbye before the watchful eyes inhabiting the public park where they’re walking, and then a video titled “Human Sexuality is Complicated” that discusses the relationship between sex, gender, sexual orientation and sexual behavior. Students were then introduced to “The Gender Unicorn,” a visual that aims to represent the relationship between sex, gender identity, gender expression, physical attraction and emotional attraction. Subsequent slides cover various terminology, pronoun information and guidelines for respectful interaction with other students. Sanders said she was “raised to treat people the same way with kindness and no judgment,” and that Rainbow 101 training or no, “I still am here for my residents” regardless of their identity. However, she said, various aspects of the gender and racial diversity training, including its perspective on gender identity and expression, offended her as a Christian, and she felt like the training format left no room for discussion or disagreement. Student Government Association President Rebecca Hart, meanwhile, said that the training equips RAs with important information to help their residents. “It is a marginalized community, and it’s important to kind of understand the identities,” she said. “So that way you can at least a little understand the struggle when they come to you. I also feel like the students are going to be more open to coming to the RAs if they know that they already know a little bit about the community, even if they don’t know everything.” The 31-slide Stereotypes Intent vs. Impact training, which WCU also provided,
students feel comfortable and at home in our residence halls and in expressing their views in all areas of campus life,” WCU said in response to SMN questions about Sanders’ concerns. “We will strive to accomplish this goal by continuing to have open discussions and encourage dialogue with our resident assistants and amongst student groups and leaders. Part of the educational experience is being exposed to new ideas and beliefs that may not match your own.”
BACKLASH
Rebecca Hart. WCU photo aims to teach students the difference between intent and impact, what stereotypes are and how they affect people, and next steps for everyday actions. The training included a “language matters” section that listed purportedly offensive phrases, including “America is a melting pot,” “When I look at you I don’t see race,” and “There is only one race, the human race.” “I think it upset me because for the diversity and inclusion training, it said we shouldn’t say that we’re all one race, the human race, which that goes against a Christian doctrine for me because we are all one race, and that’s a fundamental aspect of Christianity,” she said. Sanders also felt like the training perpetuated harmful regional stereotypes when one instructor, who is Black, reportedly told the class she won’t stop the car when traveling through northern Georgia because she fears for her safety. “The university’s goal is to ensure that all
Instead of going to the university administration with her concerns, Sanders first contacted Stirewalt and Turning Point USA. She said that she’d spoken with former RAs who had tried the administrative route and gotten nowhere. “The only way to actually get change done is to go to the media, and that’s what we had to do,” Stirewalt said. “I don’t feel like any change would have happened if we had not put it out to the public.” But making her concerns public also made the backlash public. Sanders has received multiple death threats through the anonymous discussion app Yik Yak. A pair of since-deleted posts on the WCU Faculty Senate’s official Instagram page dismissed her concerns as “nonsense” and “manufactured outrage.” “Sharing this not as an endorsement of the views expressed in this article but as evidence of manufactured outrage over the practice — and in this case, student-led — DEI efforts on our campus,” read the first one, according to a screenshot Stirewalt provided. “Thanks to the RAs who are working to promote understanding around diversity, equity and inclusion. Keep up the good work.” The post linked to the Jan. 7 Fox News story and included the “Gender Unicorn” graphic used in the training.
