Campuses unite to understand national tragedy: for many, terrorist attacks hit close to home - Faculty Club - Cover story

Black Issues in Higher Education, Oct 11, 2001 by Kendra Hamilton

This generation may have been dubbed "X," but some observers say its response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies merits nothing less than an "A ."

The outpouring of emotion and demonstrations of unity on campuses across the nation have been impressive:

* At the University of Virginia, more than 1,000 students crowded into a Sept. 13 "teach-in"--a number so far beyond the capacity of the hail that the event had to be moved to a nearby outdoor amphitheater.

* At Nashville's Tennessee State University, a memorial service Sept. 14 drew a capacity crowd of 3,000 weeping, praying students.

* Similar observances at University of California campuses in Los Angeles and Berkeley drew 5,000 and 12,000 respectively.

Campuses large and small have responded with prayer vigils, memorial services, blood drives and fund-raising events. But there has been a dark side to the outpouring of solidarity as well.

At the teach-in at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, one student, Yusef (who did not give a last name) was part of a long line of students who took the microphone to discuss incidents of hatred and harassment. His brother, a Sikh, was the target of stone-throwing youths in Northern Virginia.

"They said, `You damn Muslim! Get back to your own country!' "Yusef said, adding that his wife is afraid to leave the house.

And indeed, her fears may be justified as the accounts of backlash incidents multiply. In the week following the hijacking attacks, more than 400 anti-Muslim incidents were reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. According to news reports:

* Upward of 400 angry marchers in a Chicago suburb headed toward a mosque waving flags and shouting "USA! USA!" Three were arrested as the mob was turned back by police.

* In Northern Indiana, a gunman was shot at an Arab-owned gas station.

* Sikh, Arab and Muslim cabdrivers in Cleveland are staying home from work after reporting harassment and refusals of service by fares.

* Schools in Jefferson Parish, La., were closed after Arabs and Muslims were taunted by their classmates. A Muslim academy in Birmingham, Ala., was closed as a precaution.

* Three men have died in apparent hate crimes: An Indian immigrant, a Sikh, was murdered at a gas station in Mesa, Ariz.; an Egyptian Christian was murdered at his grocery store in Los Angeles; and a Pakistani Muslim was murdered at a store he co-owned in Dallas.

America's college campuses are emphatic in denying that anti-Muslim incidents axe occurring on their watch.

"Just across the street from us at Florida State, the scenario may be categorically different, but I don't at all get the sense that that's happening here-- after all, there's no one in the world that knows the impact of racism and stereotyping better than we do here," says Dr. Sharon Dennard, director of the Florida A&M University Center for Human Development, which has been providing crisis counseling in the aftermath of the hijacking attacks.

And as for verbal attacks reported in the Wayne State University student newspaper, officials there denied that any of the incidents had occurred on campus. The university has a large Muslim student population -- in part because Detroit has the world's largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East -- as well as a large African American population.

"And I think overall, anyone sitting here -- for example, at the Unity Forum, which was attended by students and faculty and people from the Muslim community, from different organizations all around town -- would be so proud of these kids," says Molly Brauwer, a public information officer at the university. "I've been very impressed."

But while the initial campus response appears to have been overwhelmingly generous, Dr. Eric Abercrumbie, of the John D. O'Bryant Think Tank for Black Professionals in Higher Education, cautions that it's what comes next that will really count.

"I have a lot of questions about this generation: What are they concerned about? Have they thought about what a mandatory draft will mean? Are they even politically aware of what the issues are," surrounding the terrorist attacks and President Bush's declaration of war, Abercrumbie asks. Abercrombie says African American students in particular have trouble "thinking globally," seeing their struggles reflected in those of people around the world.

Now, he adds, "They're faced with the greatest challenge of all, the challenge of figuring out whether or not I serve, whether or not our government is right."

"The world better be looking to these campuses," Abercrumble says. "The only group which really can challenge the system are college students and if they don't do it, then it's just business as usual."

UNWILUNG WITNESSES, VICTIMS

The newly named president of Mississippi's Tougaloo College says he was an unwilling witness to history on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

"My wife and I have an apartment about eight blocks from the World Trade Center with a clear view of the two towers -- well, the former two towers," recalls Dr. James Wyche, who just stepped down as a professor of medicine and associate provost at Brown University.