To Be A BIPOC In A PWI

The United States is in the midst of a necessary political, civil and personal awakening. The tragic and brutal death of George Floyd sparked protests across the nation as millions of people expressed their anger. Soon after, cities around the world followed suit by holding dozens of rallies against racial inequity, police brutality and the violation of human rights. Outpourings of support and testimonies flooded social media, calling out acts of injustice and encouraging the integration of anti-racist policy and behavior.

The public widely challenged major national and local institutions for their historical patterns of discriminatory actions — whether conscious or not. Penn State is no exception. The university certainly has a strong presence and impact across the country, boasting the largest living alumni network of any college in the world. However, as more students and alumni recounted stories, the university witnessed a harsh reckoning of cultural and institutional behavior that alienated many of its faculty and students of color.

Penn State is what’s known as a PWI or a predominantly white institution. A college is characterized as a predominantly white institution when its white student body accounts for more than 50% of its overall student enrollment. The university has made strides in recent years to diversify its student population, but as a land grant university, when the state is majority white it’s harder to do so. Here’s a look at what it’s like and what it means to be a POC in a PWI.

According to the admission office’s most recent statistics, the undergraduate population for the 2018-2019 school year was roughly 65% White, 9% International, with the rest of the minority populations under 10% each. The Asian American population sits at 6%, the African American population at 6%, Hispanic/Latino students at 8% and the Native American and Pacific Islander populations both less than 1%.

In a small town like State College, but a large school of more than 40,000 students, it’s not hard to feel lost and isolated — especially as a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) student. As testimonials flooded social media, this began highlighting the discriminatory and racist behavior towards Penn State’s Black students and faculty. With hundreds of individual posts accounting horrific actions, disheartening instances and deplorable patterns of racism among the student and administrative body, it’s a shocking awakening for many members of the Penn State community.

One striking story was that of Dr. Errol Henderson, an associate professor in Penn State’s Department of Political Science. On January 16, 2019, Dr. Henderson submitted an op-ed letter to the Collegian titled “Being Black at Penn State.” Dr. Henderson pointed out that his powerful letter is just as salient today as it was a year ago. In Dr. Henderson’s famous letter, he challenged Penn State’s hypocrisy and inaction. Dr. Errol Henderson is a prominent and successful member of the political science department and yet, is the only tenured African American professor in the history of the department.

“There has been roughly 3% African American faculty at PSU for 30 years — this is a deplorable record,” Dr. Henderson says. “This is often concealed by the university’s continued promotion of its ‘diverse’ faculty and students, which shows trends that are typically not reflected among its African American equivalents.”

Dr. Henderson goes on to describe several instances of hostile work environments in his letter, as well as discriminatory actions within his own department and the school. The rest of his statement is available on The Daily Collegian’s website.

When asked what he hopes his message means to other Black students and students of color, Dr. Henderson says, “There are Black professors here who will openly and consistently challenge the white supremacism that Black folks are subjected to at PSU, and they do it while being productive in their respective disciplines and academic leaders in their fields.”

“For example, in the last year I’ve published two university presses in a seven-month period,” Dr. Henderson says. “I have colleagues who have not published two university press books in seven years. It’s not an ‘either/or’ proposition when it comes to challenging white supremacism and doing excellent work in your academic field. The tradition of African American scholars is that many if not most of us have and continue to do both. As Black students, you can do the same. If you draw lessons, practices and strength from those who’ve done this work as students and who never stopped doing this work as they became professors.”

After Dr. Henderson published his letter, shortly after Penn State and his department allegedly sanctioned him for speaking out publicly about his experience.

VALLEY asked Dr. Henderson, what the one thing he wants everyone to take away from his words, to which he said, “It’s simple: ask the university president is what Henderson said true? Was it true at the time? If it is not true, then why didn’t you sanction the school paper for publishing such ‘untruths’? If it is true, then why didn’t you launch an immediate investigation of Henderson’s assertions and hold those who did the things he outlined accountable for them?”

It instead simply appears that Dr. Henderson was the only party involved who was sanctioned for the letter, ironically, for allegedly contributing to a hostile climate in his department. This is the very thing his letter said often happens to professors like him who raise the issue of the hostile, white and racist climate they are compelled to work in.

Dr. Henderson provided a list of actions he believes Penn State must do in order to see an effective change which is outlined here in his own words.

1. END/TERMINATE/CEASE its white, racist practices and create practices that actively challenge, transform and prosecute persistent white racists’ practices and individuals.

2. IMMEDIATELY REMOVE any department heads who preside over a department that has never tenured an African American full professor in its history.

3. IMMEDIATELY END the practice of deans of school selecting department heads and instead have department heads elected by professors with input from staff, graduate students and the Senior Minority Mentors as well as the Office of Educational Equity.

4. IMMEDIATELY APPOINT a lawyer to head the Affirmative Action Office (AAO) with the input of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Make the AAO independent of the Provost Office by hav-

ing them report to an outside agency that is not the subject to the PSU president’s administration.

5. IMMEDIATELY REOPEN the cases of any

Black faculty who it may be reasonably argued should be considered for promotion in the last 10 years but has not been considered; and at the same time, immediately review the promotion of white professors in the same departments where their Black colleagues have not been considered for promotion. 6. REOPEN ALL CASES involving accusations of racial discrimination by Black faculty, students and staff made to the AAO in the last decade. 7. REOPEN ALL CASES made by Black faculty, students and staff to the Office of Student Conduct in the last decade. On-campus, there are numerous resources for all students to practice anti-racism and educate themselves in diversity, equity and social justice, as well as resources for BIPOC to deal with trauma, conflict and counseling. One of the most prominent resources on campus is the Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC) located in the HUB. Carlos Wiley has been at Penn State for 10 years as the director of the PRCC and says that he has seen more importance and emphasis surrounding diversity and inclusion in the last five years. “Since President Barron has come in the last five years, he has instilled an importance around these issues and has been more willing to be outspoken and create change,” Wiley says. “There are now three Black deans over colleges for the first time at Penn State, and he has hired multiple POC in high administrative positions whilst being willing to engage in difficult conversations. Under President Barron’s leadership, he has shown that he has been more apt to see change.” Of course, with positive changes, there is still much to be done. When asked about the stories on @black_at_pennstate on Instagram, Wiley responded, “A lot of those stories on the account are things I’ve personally helped deal with. These are the kinds of conversations students are having at the PRCC.” “All students of color have had struggles with white supremacy at Penn State,” Wiley says. “It’s just in different ways with how it manifests itself. Certain communities are just more vocal.” Wiley explained that diversity for University Park has not improved in their admission process, which can be due to a variety of factors such as lack of scholarships for students of color, the recruiting process and the simple cost of attendance at Penn State UP.

In order to see further effective institutional and student body change here at Penn State, Wiley says, “Penn State needs to look at the inequity of diversity at University Park and look at what they need to do to make that more balanced. We need to do a better job at educating our student body and that needs to

happen when students first commit to Penn State.” “All students across the board need a course about racial issues, social justice, structural racism and privilege since they all come from such a wide array of different experiences and backgrounds,” Wiley says.

Besides the PRCC, which is a great starting point, other centers and resources for BIPOC students include the Multicultural Resource Center, Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity, multicultural student organizations and speaking to a counselor. Students of color can experience problems of racial identity, imposter syndrome, forms of trauma and so much more that they need help dealing with it.

By working through these issues, adults, mentors and peers can help them understand what they will experience at a PWI and help them break down the systemic problems they’ve experienced most of their life.

“White supremacism had a beginning, and it can have an ending: if we end it,” Dr. Henderson says. “White supremacism is not ‘normal,’ but it’s routine. Don’t normalize it: challenge it,

change it, build something better.”

“Don’t be afraid to speak up. It’s important to recognize your voice is valued and your experiences are valuable. ”