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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – When the University Alabama announced that he had recruited Jamie R. Riley as his senior student, he praised him as an educator with "invaluable" leadership skills and having "proved itself in the defense of student rights".
But seven months later Mr. Riley has arrived on campus flagship university in Tuscaloosa, he resigned from what the university called a "mutual agreement". It's a decision that the directors have not explained and that came a day after a conservative news site published an article on old tweets in which Mr. Riley, who is black, described the police and the American flag as part of a "systemic history of racism".
The comments made in Mr. Riley's posts were considered by some to be inflammatory and offensive, but others, including black students and faculty, said the tweets described their reality. "Because I am a black woman, I live every day," said Cameryn Blackmore, a political scientist, lecturer and doctoral student.
In the weeks following the publication of the article on September 4 and the brief acknowledgment of Mr. Riley's resignation, the officials remained silent, prompting faculty, staff and students to accuse the directors of not supporting Mr. Riley and his freedom of speech. But what began as a tumult about the departure of a black administrator – which some said felt forced and unjust – led to a rely on race on a predominantly white campus that remains haunted by its racial past.
"Your silence on this case is troubling because it involves an agreement with these external parties and instils fear among those working in this field," said the president. Association of Black Teachers and Teachers wrote in a letter to Stuart R. Bell, president of the university. He urged him to clarify the reasons for Mr. Riley's resignation, adding that circumstances could make the recruitment and retention of minorities even more difficult.
Indeed, the resignation of Mr. Riley has become something that eclipses the Dean's debate and any debate on academic freedom. It has become a liberation valve for pent-up frustrations of those who consider themselves marginalized, especially black students.
"It's just happened to pierce each nest of hornets at the same time," said Austin Schutz, PhD student in Political Science. "I was just waiting for something to happen, and that seems to be the case."
Mr. Riley has arrived in February on a campus in transition – administrators have sought in recent years to improve their academic profile and recruit a more diverse student body. The university is also struggling with a past that includes cross burns and evenings where party goers wore black faces. More recently, white students have used racist remarks on social networks and a sorority rejected a candidate because she was black.
Since Mr. Riley's resignation, students have staged a sit-in at the president's office, marched on campus, and passed a student Senate resolution reaffirming the university's commitment to "protecting freedom." of speech and academic freedom ". After the departure of Mr. Riley – and the silence of the university explaining why – became a moment of mobilization for black students, many of them now being mobilized and ready to attack more directly to the past of the university.
At a recent Senate student meeting, which generally tends to attract meager crowds, dozens of people gathered in a cafeteria to discuss the resolution. A freshman said men in a passing vehicle threw insults at him and fired paintballs. A senior official argued that the Senate, made up mostly of white students, did not understand the extent of its privilege: "You can not even imagine how much you win and how much we lose," said the woman.
"Are you here for us?" Udonna Simpson, a seasoned political scientist Majorasked in a passionate speech before the resolution was passed without any dissent. "I ask you to show us that you are here for us, to show us that you care about us, to show us that you are not racist."
Apart from a terse statement confirming Mr. Riley's resignation, neither the university nor Mr. Riley made any additional comments. Representatives of the university, through a spokesperson, declined to say more and Mr. Riley did not respond to multiple interview requests.
Pamela Payne Foster, professor of community medicine and population health, said Pamela Payne Foster, professor of community medicine and population health.
"I think we are at a critical point," she said, "where the question is: when are we going to turn things around or will we stay where we are? great. "
In a statement In response to a student petition, Mr. Bell acknowledged their concerns, while highlighting the university's progress, including the hiring of a Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. "From our board of directors to our administration through our group of students," he said, "we are more diverse today than at any time in our world." history and among the most diverse lighthouse universities in our region.
The flagship campus, with its more than 38,000 students, is dotted with brick neo-Greek style buildings on a rolling green expanse. L & # 39; s University, A regularly ranked No. 1 football powerhouse, boasts that its class of freshmen included more national merit scholars than ever before and that it was producing Rhodes Scholars and Fulbright Prize winners.
Still, diversity remains a fight. About 80% of the student population is white, according to the most recent university data from last year. And only 7% of the faculty is black, according to these same figures. (The population of Alabama is 27% Black.)
A history teacher regularly conducts a tour that recalls the troubled past of the university, with stops on slave graves and the hall named in honor of the doctor and professor whose research was aimed at undermining the abolitionists by claiming that slaves were naturally inferior.
The campus was also the site of Governor George Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse" in 1963, in which he tried to block the registration of black students as they called for an end to segregation.
Mr. Riley had been brought in, in part, to help cleanse some of the residue of this story. The university had conducted a national search for the position and, in a long job description, it was stated that the position in question required the appointment of an administrator capable of promoting "a vibrant, diverse campus life." , inclusive and stimulating.
During his brief stay at the university, Mr. Riley established relationships with black students and other minority groups. Marquis Hollingsworth, a black race, said he met with the former dean during an unsuccessful campaign for the student body presidency last spring. Mr. Riley gave him his cell phone number and encouraged him to reach out, he said.
"It's a beautiful and imperfect campus," said Hollingsworth, "it's amazing and the trend is going in the right direction." He was nevertheless upset by the resignation of Mr. Riley.
"It was someone I could confide in," he said, "who understood what I was going through."
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