Kennesaw State students’ frustrations continue to increase after the release of President Kathy Schwaig’s statement regarding the Jalique Rosemond hate crime.
On Jan. 22, KSU student Jalique Rosemondwas the victim of a hate crime committed by two white KSU students, Kole Reasoner and Gauge Stanley. The aggressors broke Rosemond’s nose, ripped out his dreadlocks and called him racial slurs. Rosemond had to be treated for his injuries at the hospital.
The media did not publish anything about the incident until Jan. 25. KSU students were in an uproar when the hate crime was released and the quote “I stand with Jalique” was a reoccurring post on social media.
Student organizations like The National Pan-Hellenic Counciland the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) posted statements standing in solidarity with Rosemond and condemning white supremacy.
As these statements were released, students started looking to KSU and President Schwaig to reinforce and stand with their statements. Students and the community posted their disappointment with KSU and President Schwaig in the comments on KSU’s main Instagram page. As days passed, KSU still did not release a statement.
The office of student advocacy pushes for students to abide by the Owl Creed. When Reasoner and Stanley did not follow the Owl Creed, KSU did not hold them accountable or make it known to the students and local community that what they did was wrong.
The KSU Division of Diverse and Inclusive Excellence posted a statement on Jan. 31 solely on its website. The statement was not sent out to students’ emails or posted on other KSU-affiliated social media accounts.
Students were outraged by the lack of response and kept pressuring KSU and President Schwaig to send out a statement.
The KSU NAACP organized and executed a protest on Jan. 30. Students marched around various locations on the Kennesaw campus. Facing President Schwaig’s office, students shouted phrases such as, “No justice, no peace, we won’t stop ‘till KSU speaks” and “silence is violence.”
Almost two weeks after the attack, President Schwaig sent out a statement to all KSU emails and posted it on KSU’s social media accounts on Feb. 1. Her statement was weak, vague, lacked empathy, barely addressed the situation and did not call it a hate crime.
Student Affairs is hosting a town hall called Campus Conversation on Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. in the Prillaman Building in room 1105. There will be no open mic there, but students can submit questions through a form before the meeting. This is a problem because KSU will just choose the questions they want to answer and avoid the questions they are too uncomfortable answering.
