St. Thomas rally: Standing up to hate

Four racist and threatening notes left for three black female students at the University of St. Thomas did more than just bring condemnation from the campus community. It also sparked a broader discussion about the feelings of isolation experienced by minority students on the campus.

On Thursday, hundreds of students, faculty and staff members met in support of the three women -- sophomores Aquanette Early, Danielle Matthias and Malaika Smith -- who received the notes in John Paul II Hall, an all-women's dorm that is generally open only to residents and guests.

More than a dozen students of different races spoke to the crowd about race relations and how they can be improved at St. Thomas. It was a scene not unprecedented at the private Catholic university in St. Paul.

This week's event was the third incident of racist messages on campus in 2007. In the past 15 years, there have been several incidents in which St. Thomas students have been subjected to hate crimes, including a cross-burning outside an off-campus house where several black students lived.

When junior Princess Gaye grabbed the bullhorn, she gave white students at St. Thomas an idea of her experiences at the school featuring a little more than 10 percent students of color among its 5,800 undergraduates.

"To feel alone at your university, kind of hurts sometimes," Gaye said. "We want to see this kind of support more often, you know. Sometimes we do feel alone, like nobody is here to support us.

"We'd like to see you guys talk to us. We feel alone when we're in classes and you guys don't join our groups. We feel alone when we're talking and you're just looking at us. ... To feel so separated on your own campus, it hurts."

Senior Jessica Taylor said she doesn't feel as safe on campus as she did a week ago.

"You never know who is out there or who's lurking," Taylor said.

Racism on campus revealed

"I know St. Thomas strives for inclusiveness and I know we're working hard to get that. We have some work to do, that's my opinion, but people are trying. An incident where your life is threatened is never good. Maybe some people who were living in their own little isolation circle and didn't believe there is any racism on this campus now know."

Said freshman Camri Walton: "[The campus] feels separated. That's why when I heard about what happened, I wasn't surprised. I was upset; it does feel like the campus is kind of segregated in the classroom and doing group projects and study groups. It seems like [white students] only talk to people who look like them."

Tiara Basley said that when groups are formed in classes, professors often have to help black students be included.

Lawrence Potter, director of institutional diversity at St. Thomas, said Wednesday that the school wants to provide a welcoming experience for students of color.

"We work hard to move beyond just tolerance," Potter said. "We work hard to be an affirming and a respecting community."

St. Thomas public safety officials and the St. Paul police continue to investigate who left the notes -- one on a dry-erase board and three on paper -- between early Tuesday and early Wednesday.

Early described this week's events as "horrible," but the three roommates said they appreciate the support the school has provided in recent days.

"I feel like I'm a valued member of the St. Thomas community," Early said. "I felt that way before, and I feel even more that way now. I know that when things like this happen they are not accepted. I'm just very proud to be a St. Thomas student, to call myself a Tommie."

Carl Mickman, undergraduate student body president, challenged his fellow white students to do more than simply spend time with other white students.

"As terrible as this is, we need wake-up calls like this for everyone to realize that there are problems here," Mickman said. "We need to seize this opportunity and make sure we move forward and make sure that St. Thomas is a better community for everyone here."

Recommit to school's values

Said St. Thomas president the Rev. Dennis Dease: "I know this community is very good at spinning straw into gold. Let us use this gathering as an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the values that are so a part of this university."

Earlier this year, racial slurs were written on posters in McNeely Hall in February and March. A rally was held on campus in 2001 after a Muslim student was the subject of hate crimes. A student was suspended in 1998 after writing anti-Semitic messages in a residence hall restroom. In 1992, a cross was burned outside a house where several black St. Thomas students lived. That action was believed to be linked to an earlier beating of a white St. Thomas student.

Jeff Shelman • 612-673-7478

Jeff Shelman • jshelman@startribune.com