Officials at West Chester University of Pennsylvania have formally apologized for the school’s past discriminatory practices and treatment of African-American students. During a recent annual campus event called “Civility Day,” African-American alumni were invited to recall the struggles they endured during their undergraduate experiences at West Chester.
Pam Sheridan, director of public relations and marketing at WCU, adds that in recent years, alumni of color — particularly African-American alumni — have shared hurtful memories with current WCU President Madeleine Wing Adler, which includes being excluded from on campus housing and not having access to the university’s swimming pool and other facilities during the 1930s and ’40s. According to published reports, many minority students were also discouraged from pursuing studies in music.
On behalf of the school’s administration, Adler recently issued an apology in the form of a written proclamation.
“The current administration, students, faculty and staff of West Chester University acknowledge with profound regret discriminatory practices, such as restrictions on campus housing and the use of other facilities and services, that brought unequal and ill treatment to the institution’s African-American students throughout many decades of the 20th century,” Adler said in a recent statement. “We offer a deep sense of remorse and heartfelt gratitude to these alumni, many of whom have shared stories of the injustices they experienced.”
Sheridan adds that the university recently invited all pre-1960 African-American WCU graduates to campus to engage in a discussion about the discrimination they faced and the era’s social climate.
“The president said it’s really time to acknowledge that these things occurred,” says Sheridan, who notes that by the 1950s Black students were permitted to live in campus dormitories. “It wasn’t just about giving them (alumni) a platform in which they could talk about it, but also they wanted to acknowledge that many of these alums really achieved despite the discrimination.”
Dr. Carson Carr, Jr., a 1958 graduate of West Chester, adds that the event aided in healing some of the wounds that exist for many past students.
