University Scrubs ‘Safe Space for White Students’ from Listings After Scrutiny

University Scrubs ‘Safe Space for White Students’ from Listings After Scrutiny

This proves once again, that many people in academia have no idea how crazy these things sound until they notice public reaction.

The College Fix reports:

University scrubs ‘safe space for White students’ from counseling lineup

A listing for a “support” group for white people at the University of Maryland-College Park was quietly dropped from the school’s counseling lineup after drawing controversy, and replaced by an “anti-racism and ally building” group.

“White Awake,” intended for white students who “sometimes feel uncomfortable and confused before, during, or after interactions with racial and ethnic minorities,” had been publicly offered by the university at least since Sept. 1, the date of a cached page The College Fix accessed Friday. (That version has since disappeared, but a Sept. 11 cache of the page is still live.)

That listing was apparently scrubbed from the “group counseling” page sometime after Inside Higher Ed published an article on “White Awake” early Friday.

In its place is a new session called “Anti-Racism and Ally Building” that makes no mention of participants’ race but offers them help to “connect with people different from yourself.”

It’s still directed at white students, however. Both the original and revised groups include the line: “Do you want to become a better ally?” (The term “ally” in a racial context is often used as a synonym for “white.”) Both are led by the center’s staff psychologist Noah Collins.

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