“Just because there isn’t lynch mobs on campus, doesn’t make [WCU] safe,” said Amber Jenkins, a black Western Carolina student in a podcast interview.
Western Carolina University has not had a spotless record when it comes to controversy. Several racist and, more recently, transphobic incidents have stained the university’s image for years now.
Earlier in the Spring 2022 semester, Katie Sanders, a Residential Assistant, disagreed with the required Rainbow 101 training she was required to take. Included in this training was the now infamous gender unicorn, showing sliding scales that represent gender, sex, gender expression, and sexuality.
Sanders took it to Fox News, putting her beliefs on the public stage. Those who took her side, turned to social media, flooding Western’s comment section with transphobic remarks. A petition was made and signed by 809 students to remove Sanders from the position.
Students living in Judaculla Residence Hall say that she is still listed as a Resident Assistant there. WCJ is still waiting on response from Executive Director Bryant Barnett.
In 2018, during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march through campus, racial slurs were shouted out of the window down at the marchers. The culprits were never found.
Up until mid-2020, the University Auditorium, used for theatrical performances, was named after former North Carolina Gov. Clyde Roark Hoey, who strongly believed in racial segregation.
In fall 2020, Western had a rocky start to the academic year when two videos circulated, of Western students engaged in racist behaviors. Both videos contained usage of the n-word by these students.
Chancellor Kelli Brown has made statements condemning the racist and transphobic acts, as well as following through with punishments for certain students. Brown expressed her disappointment and disgust to the racist videos, as did many other sectors of the Catamount community. All five students involved in those videos were expelled from Western.
Brown, in regard to the transphobic statements, sent a message to student inboxes saying that this has only strengthened her dedication to diversity, inclusion, and training in those areas are important to the integrity of the university.
The Western Carolina Community Creed states the community should “value diversity, inclusive excellence, and individual differences” but the numbers have yet to show that.
Black students only make up 6.1% of the student body, a statistic that only marginally changed from 2017.
Queer students have clubs like the Sexuality and Gender Alliance and Safe Zone trainings to make students more aware, but the town of Sylva only had their first pride in Fall 2021.
So, while steps have been made to make Western safer, the question still remains: Do all Western Carolina students feel safe on this campus?
In the podcast below, three students of color and one queer student were asked how they felt on Western’s campus. Due to the subject matter, many students did not feel safe going in front of a camera. Some names were changed to protect student identities.
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