Demo

Volume 10, Number 2 ▪ Winter 2015
Important News!
Recent reactions to student concerns regard- ing issues of race on campus prompted re- sponses from various university administra- tors. To read the comments by the Interim Chancellor, Interim Provost, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Associ- ate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and UIPD Chief of Police, click the links below; illinois.edu/blog/view/6231/280567 illinois.edu/blog/view/6231/280977 illinois.edu/blog/view/6231/280978
Inside this issue
Microaggressions..................................1-3 UIPDPoliceBeat......................................3-4 MarchingIlliniPreparingforMacy’s..........5-6 PFPOtoLiveTweetMarch’sParade................6 Benefitsof CampusVolunteering................7 LocalRanchOffersReindeer/HolidayFun.....8 SavetheDate-MomsWeekend2016...........9
Microaggressions on Campus
J.B. Bailey, Program Advisor
Recent events on college
campuses across the
country, including at the U
of I, have led to increased conversations regarding the issue of race at the university. Students of color, specifically African-American students, have expressed frustration and concern with the learning and living environment on campus. We want to provide some context and background information on the issue should your student wish to talk with you about recent events. Please see the statements on the left as well.
One specific issue students
have voiced concerned over are microaggressions. First coined
by Harvard professor Chester Pierce in 1973 to describe insults and dismissals he said he routinely witnessed non-Black Americans inflict on African-Americans,
the term is most commonly
used in reference to unintended discrimination. In his book, Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation, Derald Wing Sue defined microaggressions as “brief, everyday exchanges
that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.” Such group membership is often based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, gender identity, religious belief and ability status.
The theory behind microaggressions states that those guilty of such incidents are often well-intentioned members of a dominant culture. Unlike acts of bigotry that are
overt and deliberate, such as the
use of racial epithets, homophobic slurs or religious discrimination, microaggressions are not meant to offend and those committing such acts are unaware of the harm they are inflicting. Microaggressions
can be both verbal and non-verbal, such as the rolling of one’s eyes
at comments made by a member
of a minority group, crossing the street when seeing someone who looks different walking in one’s direction and purposefully avoiding social interactions with individuals because of their gender, race, sexual orientation, or other.
As Sue describes it, microaggressions are statements and actions that repeat or
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