COLUMBUS: How the U.Va. administration failed
I am angry, and I am guilty. I did not protect my student, a student in my general chemistry class who was run down on the Charlottesville pedestrian mall by a white supremacist. I heard her account of this vicious, unprovoked attack when I visited her in the hospital. My student told me that University administrators visited her in the hospital, and a member of the Board of Visitors began telling her what she should do going forward. Not intimidated by white supremacists, my student would not let herself be bullied by administrators. She told him to leave.I feel terrible that I was not there for her. I am so proud that she stood up against hatred and bigotry. The night before, she and other students were surrounded and threatened on the University campus by a mob of neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other racists — yet my student had the courage to return on Saturday to engage in peaceful protest.Where was I? Where were you? Where was the University? I didn’t know these racist groups were coming to Grounds. I wasn’t warned. When did the University know these hate groups were assembling on campus Friday night? Students knew as early as 3:48 p.m., and shortly after 6 p.m. in the afternoon. Administrators were seen running around, telling students to stay away from the lawn. Not all did — students have as much right to be there as anyone else. What did the University do to protect them? Why were we so ill-prepared? Why wasn’t a police alert sent out warning to the University community? Why do we still have no information about the attacks on these students? Where are the reports we are federally obligated to receive about crimes reported on our campus? Were the students allowed or encouraged to file reports? Were there arrests? Why aren’t we hearing from these students that were at the Jefferson statue that night?Once at the statue, the hate groups were allowed to encircle our students. The police were blocks away, and nobody else was there to help them. The video footage is frightening. Our students, who were not bearing arms and did not have torches, were assaulted.