By Reggie Austin

Students on campus have answered the call for civility. The Black Student Union and Multicultural Affairs Office hosted a panel tackling the uses of racist slurs. The panel was held in response to the recent reports of African American students being called the n-word on QU’s campus.

Father John Doctor, the Vice President for mission and ministry, sent an email to students titled “A Call For Civility/ Respect.”

“These incidents manifested a total disrespect of the other.  This goes against who we are as a Catholic and Franciscan University,” Fr. Doctor wrote.

BSU President Aloysius Cooper was not pleased with the university and its response. When asked on his opinion towards the email he called it “very wordy”  and it had “too much going on.”

“I felt that they didn’t address the problem head on. They gave the students a blanket answer for a concentrated problem. QU did not address the fact that we were called [n-word],” Cooper said. “When you call one of us a [n-word] you call all of us that. You may have not called me that directly but it effects all of us.”

Aloysius touched base on the lack of diversity at Quincy University and its professors.

“There aren’t any black professors to walk other students of another race down the road of what we go through,” Cooper said.

Michael Keller, assistant professor of English, talked about how being willing ignorant creates a hostile environment.

“We can’t decide how somebody else should feel about what we say or do, it’s all open to interpretation.” Keller said.

He proposed that people take more thought into the words they use in context.

Twyla Jones, the treasurer of BSU shared her view on the incidents and the subsequent actions. She warned the audience about the usage of the word and within proper context.

“Just because some [black] people give you a pass, does not mean you won’t get your butt kicked,” Jones said.

Jones thinks that the panel helped ease the tension.

“The intended audience was definitely missed at the panel however, the fact that people from every background are coming together is a huge step in the right direction,” Jones said.