SUNY Binghamton Offers RA Training Session Called “Stop White People”

SUNY Binghamton Offers RA Training Session Called “Stop White People”

SUNY Binghamton recently offered a training session for Resident Assistants that had a clearly racist slant. The session, titled “Stop White People” was supposed to “help others take the next step in understanding diversity, privilege and the society we function within.”

The Binghamton Review reported:

“#StopWhitePeople2K16” Is An Official Part Of Residential Assistant Training

Racism seems to continually weigh upon both the faculty and students of Binghamton University. As a response to the apparent presence of bigotry and hatred on campus, university faculty and student groups, such as Students for Change, have worked to create a more diverse and inclusive environment on campus.

The implication that comes across due to these perennial responses to perceived bigotry, however, is that Binghamton University is a very, very bad place to go to school due to the many racist, bigoted, and problematic staff and students. Whether an individual agrees with that implication, though, should be up him or her.

Regardless of whether or not Binghamton’s campus is a hateful place, students are definitely allowed to express their concerns. To tell them issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality do not exist on campus would be to assume those issues cannot exist.

Bigots will always be present on a university campus, and no one should ever try to deny that. The extent to which that bigotry influences university policy, and how the general student population reacts to those bigoted people, however, is what would hopefully determine the emotional and physical response to that hatred.

A place like Binghamton University, which prides itself on its commitment to diversity and acceptance, absolutely does not approve of hateful attitudes. To call Binghamton University a politically correct institution is certainly fair. Clearly, Binghamton University is trying to be as accepting and diverse as possible.

It came as a shock to Binghamton Review, then, when a page from Binghamton University’s Residential Assistant training schedule was sent to our Facebook page. Listed alongside an event meant to give RAs an “overview of disabilities in Higher Education,” was one called “#StopWhitePeople2K16.”

Naturally, we decided to check and see if this information were legitimate, and have determined that the event’s existence is well within the realm of possibilities. We would, however, love to be shown proof that the event was not part of the RA training schedule.

Ben Shapiro discussed the story with Megyn Kelly on Wednesday night:

The university’s talking points about the title being “ironic” have clearly been sent and received.

CNN dutifully reports:

Binghamton University: ‘Stop White People’ event was ‘ironic’

Binghamton University officials have come forward with an explanation after a student-led Resident Assistant program called #StopWhitePeople2K16 nearly cause the internet to explode with anger.

Brian Rose, vice president for student affairs, said in a published statement that the one-time RA staff training program was named by students, and was intended to be a dialogue on racial diversity and inclusion.

“The program title ‘#StopWhitePeople2K16’ was drawn from a familiar hashtag in use on Twitter, and was not invented by the program facilitators,” Rose said. “It is my understanding that the hashtag is commonly used ironically.”

Would CNN cover the story this way if the program was named “Stop” any other group?

Probably not.

Featured image is a screen cap.

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