Dear President Julie Sullivan, Provost Richard Plumb and Dean Linda Baughman,
I was stunned to read “n—– go back.” It was the first sentence in a Pioneer Press column, “Hate on a freshman’s dorm door.” Young men of color and promise have experienced hate crimes twice at St. Thomas in under two months. A similar hate crime happened at the same dorm to another student. St. Thomas administration responded to these hate crimes with platitudes and a nebulous reference to an investigation.
Correct me if I’m mistaken, but I didn’t read anywhere that when a student’s legal rights are seriously violated, the administration immediately calls a peace officer to file a complaint regarding the criminal act, nor about increased security presence and videos, nor about concrete ways they will aggressively get to the bottom of who is responsible for these hate crimes. Was Kevyn Perkins even informed of his legal rights?
There is not one Minnesota statute that covers all aspects of discrimination, but several, like Statute 611A.79 Subsection 2, may cover what Kevyn experienced.
I am simply a neighbor and mother of three sons whose heart goes out to this fine young man. Who is going to step up to the plate at St. Thomas to follow up on the protocol for hate crimes? Platitudes alone fall short of deterring these serious crimes from being repeated in the future.
If Kevyn Perkins leaves, it will be a huge loss for the university. They will not just lose one fine young man of color and promise who overcame much adversity through sheer determination and hard work to pursue higher education, but they will also discourage and lose future students of all races.
May you use the authority entrusted to you, all for the common good, as your official slogan proclaims. Concrete actions could pave the way for St. Thomas to reflect more of Martin Luther King’s dream and less of Kevyn’s nightmare.
May Saint Martin de Porres, patron of all those who suffer discrimination, intercede on Kevyn’s behalf.
Anne Brandrud, MacGroveland neighborhood resident