Nevada Students Look for Progress after Protest Against Hate and Racist Video
Reporting and photos by Valentina Garcia
After a leaked video prompted a big protest on the University of Nevada campus in mid-April, a meeting was subsequently held at the multicultural center between students and UNR leadership.
Students listed ways to find solutions to the all too frequent hate speech and racism that occurs on their Virginia street campus. Suggestions included diversity training for incoming freshmen, creating a hotline to report incidents of racism and figuring out a way to measure safety on campus.
The meeting followed a major protest after the video of a white student yelling out the n-word in the Argenta Hall dorm leaked onto Instagram in early April.
Outraged students and alumni quickly began to share the video through all forms of social media asking for justice.
“What is being done for this disgusting behavior??” said user Cass_west04 in the comments of the video. “Absolutely disgusting! I hope the university is supporting these traumatized students!” Dr.j.wade added. Many comments directly tagged UNR President Brian Sandoval.
Students were later informed that the slurs were considered free speech and that the Residential Life and Housing cannot take disciplinary action but instead would write the student up for disrupting quiet hours.
This was not the answer many were looking for.
A statement sent out by President Sandoval then indicated: “It is of the utmost importance that our University provides an environment for students, faculty and staff where everyone feels supported. I encourage our University community to show respect, understanding and empathy for others.”
Many students felt this fell short of the protection they were seeking against recurring racism.
“It’s truthfully disappointing to know someone can do something so hurtful to the community and not receive any punishment,” a female Latina student said when asked about the situation. “I would be questioning my safety if that was my dorm.”
The Black Student Organization got to work and quickly organized a peaceful protest on campus.
Students, faculty, and media workers all gathered to hear what the BSO and others who joined had to say. Many students sadly mentioned multiple instances where they felt injustice simply because they were a part of Reno’s minority.
One Black student, Janay Hood, spoke about a time no one wanted to work with her in a group discussion on slavery. “No one was comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Hood said.
Another student brought up the time she witnessed swastikas on the stairwells at the Circus Circus casino hotel back when it was used as an interim dorm during the pandemic.
“You love Black culture, you love the braids, you love the music, but you don’t love us,” BSO’s VP Krystal Watson said during the protest.
Brandon Sanders, the coordinator for the university’s Black Student Services, also spoke up.
“At the end of the day we see clearly our students don’t feel safe or heard or most importantly valued. Our students should not have to go to their residential halls and feel attacked. Everyone needs to be intentional with change, this isn’t an emotional response but a call for action,” Sanders said.
Just by doing a few quick google searches and speaking to a handful of students, it is blatant how many racist incidents involving students have occurred on campus and near campus in recent years.
Back in 2019, over 1,000 faculty members, students and community members had signed a letter addressed to UNR’s president at the time, Marc Johnson, demanding the university take action over several instances of white nationalism on campus. Johnson condemned the white nationalist ideology, but said the university must support the right to free speech.
There is undoubtedly still a larger percentage of white residents in Reno compared to people of color which is reflected on campus, with many minorities sadly feeling undervalued and not protected against racism.
According to the 2021 statistics from Data USA, the enrolled student population at University of Nevada-Reno is 52.3% White, 22.1% Hispanic or Latino, 8.03% Asian, 7.91% Two or More Races, 3.8% Black or African American, 0.609% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.428% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.
With new leaders on campus and movements pushing for progress, the Black Student Organization won’t forget this incident and has used it as fuel to keep fighting for better conditions to the benefit of all students.
”Hating one is hating all,” Watson said repeatedly during protest.
