STORRS - UConn’s Undergraduate Student Government Association held special task force meeting Sunday night in response to what students say is the latest racist incident on campus.
The incident, which occurred in Oct. 11, was captured on video by an African-American student from his apartment window.
In the video, three males walking through the parking lot at UConn’s Charter Oak Apartments, can be heard shouting the N-word
“It was clear they were trying to do it in a competition to where they were trying to see who could scream it the loudest,” said Avolyn Nieves, a member of USG UConn. “So, they were clearly making a mockery of black students.”
She is the leader of the UConn Undergraduate Student Government task force against hate speech, which met this evening. She provided an update from the UConn Police Department.
“UCPD will also be collecting information from Wi-Fi routers in the area and door swipe data to also try to determine who was in the area during the timeframe of the incident,” Nieves said.
The task force’s goal, laying out a plan that that benefits black students.
“I fully and wholeheartedly believe that black students on this campus really deserve more healing spaces and coping mechanisms,” Nieves added.
So, they’re counting on UConn’s administration to step up.
“We have a lot of strong relationships with different administrators around campus. So we are really using those resources again to empower our students
UConn students from all walks of life are part of this task force.
“As a white male myself, seeing other white males act like that, you know, I don’t want that to be perceived as representative of all of us because it’s not,” said Fabio Saccomanno, a UConn junior.
“I just really hope that tonight can really be the start of something that can really hopefully change our campus climate going forward,” said Mini Ajayi, another UConn junior.
Monday at Noon, there will be a march against racism at the UConn Student Union. The UConn chapter of the NAACP will also hold a Town Hall Monday night at 8.