University of Virginia (UVA) President Jim Ryan said in a column published Wednesday that threats against a Black student who expressed her views regarding a multicultural center on campus are “reprehensible.”
Ryan further said that he saw the student’s comment that there were “too many White people” at the newly renovated Multicultural Student Center (MSC) “as a statement of concern that one of the few places traditionally ‘for’ students of color would turn into a place dominated by White students.” At the same time, Ryan reiterated that the MSC “will and should remain open to all students.” He titled his column, “Toward a shared sense of purpose and community.”
Ryan commented briefly on the controversy last week but spoke at length about it in his column for the campus newspaper, The Cavalier Daily. The incident he talked about occurred in the second week of February and sparked debate on campus and on social media.
What happened was that a Black student was caught on video, at the MSC, saying that it was “a space for people of color.” The video was tweeted with disapproval by Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a conservative group, which called the Black student’s comments an example of “racist intolerance.” At last count, it has been viewed more than five million times.
When contacted, UVA spokesman Brian Coy referred Diverse to an earlier statement the university issued on Twitter. That statement said that the four centers officially opened on Feb. 6 —
including the renovated MSC — “are open to all members of the university community.”
YAF didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Dr. Kimberly Acquaviva, a professor of nursing at UVA, who earlier tweeted from her personal account that comments against the student at the center of the controversy ignore Black history and context, tweeted late yesterday saying she was appreciative of Ryan’s comments in The Cavalier Daily.
