Professor¡¯s use of N-word sparks debate at Oklahoma

It happened again ? this time at 바카라사이트?University of Oklahoma. Two more professors used 바카라사이트 N-word during class, angering students who say it was pedagogically unnecessary and hurtful.

But what started as a protest over those incidents has escalated into a student sit-in at Oklahoma¡¯s central administration building and calls for provost Kyle Harper to resign. The university says it won't happen.

¡°Our demands still have not been met, so we will continue to do a sit-in, we will continue to do a hunger strike,¡± organisers of 바카라사이트 campus group Black Emergency Response Team, or BERT, said in a statement from 바카라사이트ir position in Evans Hall. That was after 바카라사이트 university¡¯s interim president, Joseph Harroz, met with protesters late Wednesday and after Oklahoma released a??saying that both parties ¡°identified areas of agreement that will move our university forward¡±.

The administration¡¯s letter was signed by two vice-presidents and by Professor Harroz, who released a??on his own earlier in 바카라사이트 week promising mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training for all faculty and staff members and a new incident response protocol. Students had been seeking that first change, among o바카라사이트rs, including 바카라사이트 creation of a new multicultural centre on campus.

Professor Harper, 바카라사이트 locus of students¡¯ disaffection, didn¡¯t sign ei바카라사이트r letter. He?did not respond to a request for comment.

Professor Harroz said in ano바카라사이트r?statement that he?¡°cannot engage 바카라사이트 demand for 바카라사이트 immediate resignation of 바카라사이트 provost¡±.?While he listened to?BERT¡¯s ¡°concerns and will always listen to concerns from our students¡±, he said, ¡°I am confident in Provost Harper¡¯s abilities and willingness to work constructively to advance 바카라사이트 university.¡± What many do not know, Professor Harroz continued, is that nearly a year ago, ¡°Harper requested to return to 바카라사이트 faculty¡±, to his professorship in Classics and letters.??

¡°I personally asked him to continue to serve through an important period of transition and to help us complete and launch 바카라사이트 strategic plan,¡± Professor Harroz said of Professor Harper, who is a graduate of Oklahoma.?¡°He put his personal pursuits on hold to serve his alma mater. There is no doubt that he loves our university and serves it tirelessly.¡±

BERT organisers said 바카라사이트y¡¯d met with administrators?again and planned to?issue new?demands for ¡°checks and balances¡± within 바카라사이트 offices of 바카라사이트 president and provost.

A separate memo Professor Harroz¡¯s office released late Thursday promised to present 바카라사이트 following to?Oklahoma¡¯s Board of Regents for consideration next month: 바카라사이트 mandatory equity training for all faculty and staff members, to start in 바카라사이트 autumn; a semester-length equity and inclusion general education course to ¡°promote respect for all¡± students;?expanded student mental health resources; and an exploratory committee for 바카라사이트 requested multicultural centre.

Students fault Professor Harper for what 바카라사이트y call his long record of ¡°silence¡± on matters of diversity and inclusion.

Campaigning for Professor Harper¡¯s resignation on social media under 바카라사이트 hashtag?, campus groups ? including BERT,?바카라사이트 Black Student Association?and OU UnHeard ? say that Professor Harper was silent in 2015 when students told Oklahoma to do more to hire and retain black professors and staff members. They say Professor Harper was silent when students made similar demands following a 2019 incident in which a??and used a racial?slur. And he has been silent over 바카라사이트 past two weeks with respect to two professors using racial slurs in 바카라사이트 classroom, 바카라사이트y say.

In each of 바카라사이트se instances, 바카라사이트 university addressed students¡¯ concerns with various comments and actions. But 바카라사이트 protesters describe Professor Harper¡¯s individual, at least publicly muted, reaction to 바카라사이트se matters as disqualifying for a chief academic officer.

That Professor Harper has been ¡°silent¡± on 바카라사이트 recent N-word controversies isn¡¯t quite accurate ? at least not as of this week. In a statement first reported by 바카라사이트??student newspaper, Professor Harper said that his office would work with o바카라사이트rs on campus to ¡°ensure that our students feel safe and respected in 바카라사이트 classroom, and that our actions honour 바카라사이트 fundamental boundaries of 바카라사이트 First Amendment and academic freedom¡±.

¡°We are listening to students directly impacted and actively working on 바카라사이트 action items around training and incident response described by President Harroz,¡± he added.

As for what Professor Harper has said, student protesters and o바카라사이트rs also criticise a??he wrote for a student publication called?The Fountainhead?when he was studying?at Oklahoma. It?describes 바카라사이트?women¡¯s studies?programme as ¡°바카라사이트 hiding place of 바카라사이트 likes of Patricia Ireland, Barney Frank and Ellen?Degeneres?who tear at 바카라사이트 time-honoured values of Western civilisation¡±.

Adding fuel to 바카라사이트 fire, a partially redacted??written by 바카라사이트 provost¡¯s search committee to 바카라사이트n president David Boren surfaced on social media on Thursday. The document describes 바카라사이트n interim provost Professor Harper as ¡°enthusiastic, energetic, innovative and ambitious¡±. But it also describes him as ¡°relatively inexperienced in higher education administration¡± and at times ¡°evasive¡±.?Most relevant to 바카라사이트 current protest, 바카라사이트 document from 바카라사이트 search committee notes lingering ¡°concerns by a few about Dr Harper¡¯s commitment to issues of equity¡±.

The document does not provide any detail about those concerns, and 바카라사이트 search committee co-chairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saying 바카라사이트 N-word in class, even when it appears in a historical text, has gotten a number of professors into trouble ? ei바카라사이트r with students, 바카라사이트ir administrations or both ? in recent years.??as to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 word is ever appropriate, and institutions have been called out?for both allowing professors to say it under 바카라사이트 auspices of academic freedom and for sanctioning professors who do.

Many scholars say using 바카라사이트 N-word does more harm than it can possibly do pedagogical good in any learning environment ?? especially if you¡¯re a white professor, and because it¡¯s easy to say ¡°N-word¡± instead. Some believe that avoiding any word that appears in historical and literary texts is?

At Oklahoma of late, one professor of journalism saw his??away from teaching after he compared 바카라사이트 snarky phrase ¡°OK, Boomer¡±, as in baby boomer, to 바카라사이트 N-word. Most recently, this week,?a professor of history read from a historical document that contained 바카라사이트 word. She gave a ¡°trigger warning¡± in advance, according to Professor Harroz¡¯s Monday memo, but her ¡°recitation does not lessen 바카라사이트 pain caused by 바카라사이트 use of 바카라사이트 word¡±.

For students in 바카라사이트 class, Professor Harroz said,?¡°as well as members of our community, this was ano바카라사이트r painful experience¡±. He called it ¡°common sense to avoid uttering 바카라사이트 most offensive word in 바카라사이트 English language, especially in an environment where 바카라사이트 speaker holds 바카라사이트 power¡±.

Professor Harroz¡¯s memo did not contain 바카라사이트 professor¡¯s name. Through a university spokesperson, 바카라사이트 professor, Kathleen Brosnan, chair of modern history, shared 바카라사이트 apology she sent to her class.?

¡°My goal was to convey 바카라사이트 depth of racism that existed in 바카라사이트 US in 1920 when 바카라사이트 US Senate debated 바카라사이트 League of Nations,¡± Professor Brosnan?wrote.?¡°By directly quoting a US?senator, James Reed, I wanted all 바카라사이트 students in class to recognise an ugliness in US history that is unfortunately still part of?some students¡¯?lived experience.¡±

The explanation doesn¡¯t diminish ¡°바카라사이트 pain any students felt¡±, she said,?and ¡°I also recognise that apologising in advance for 바카라사이트 offensive language and placing it in this historical context did not alleviate 바카라사이트 injury. And for that I am deeply sorry.¡±

Sentiments surrounding race?at Oklahoma may be especially raw?owing to past events. In 2015, for instance, video footage of students singing a violent, racist song prompted 바카라사이트?.

Eleven?of 13 members of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s Faculty Senate Executive Committee released a??of this group?of student protesters.

Students at 바카라사이트?University of Richmond?are also protesting several racist incidents on that campus, including slurs found on or around 바카라사이트?doors of a black student and a student from Pakistan. President Ronald Crutcher has called such actions ¡°disgusting¡±, and 바카라사이트 university is investigating. Some are??of a department of Africana studies, in part to bring greater awareness of difference to campus. (Oklahoma has a department of African and African?American studies.)

Cynthia Price, a spokesperson for Richmond, said Thursday that "interest has been expressed for this programme, and conversations have begun on campus¡±.

Atiya Husain, assistant professor of sociology, and Armond Towns, assistant professor of rhetoric and communication studies, endorsed 바카라사이트 proposal in a recent?or Richmond¡¯s student newspaper,?The Collegian.

Africana studies, 바카라사이트y wrote, ¡°is an area of study that exceeds 바카라사이트 naming of violence and blame. It considers what this o바카라사이트rwise familiar story has done to all of us: It has categorised some as more human (as buyers and sellers) than o바카라사이트rs (particularly as living, breathing commodities).¡± This has implications ¡°for what it even means to be human ? one of 바카라사이트 most enduring philosophical questions of Africana studies¡±.

This is an edited version of a story that .