A bar in Providence that’s popular with Brown University students was recently forced to apologize after some students accused employees of the establishment of being racists.
Some students waiting in line to get in were being rowdy and were told to stop it. That’s what kicked off this whole ridiculous scenario.
Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon has the story:
Brown University Students Extract Groveling Apology From Working-Class Watering HoleStudents at Brown University extracted an apology from a blue-collar bar after a soon-to-be McKinsey consultant accused its employees of racism, prompting a student boycott and a shakedown from the school’s diversity office.The Graduate Center Bar apologized on April 27 for removing three black students who were roughhousing in line, after one of the students, Okezie Okoro, confronted the bouncer who told them to knock it off. The confrontation took place on April 7 and occurred after the bouncer let them inside. When Okoro gave the bouncer grief for reprimanding his friends, an argument ensued, culminating in the students’ ejection from the bar.A week later, Okoro posted on social media a 2,000-word denunciation of the bar, replete with a “content warning” and a list of demands. The post accused the bouncer of racism and attacked the bar’s manager, Susan Yund, for dismissing that accusation.”When we students voice concerns that someone has been harmed,” Okoro wrote, “we expect at the very least a response that attempts to deepen understanding.”The bar capitulated, sending Okoro a fawning apology that outlined the steps it was taking “to be diverse, queer, and safe for all.””We should have had policies in place that would have made you feel safer and heard when you took issue with the situation,” the bar told Okoro. “We should have engaged with you more respectfully, patiently, and compassionately when you disagreed with us.”
Brown students took a victory lap with this article at the Brown Daily Herald:
Following student boycott, Graduate Center Bar announces changes to diversity, inclusion policiesIn response to an April 7 incident in which an employee at the Graduate Center Bar told Okezie Okoro ’22 to leave the premises following a disagreement with an employee, the GCB announced updates to its diversity and inclusion policies, including the addition of bar cameras, the implementation of de-escalation training and an update of harassment and bar removal policies.The changes were announced April 27 following a meeting between Okoro, bar managers and Sylvia Carey-Butler, vice president for institutional equity and diversity.On April 13, Okoro shared a document on his Instagram account in which he recounted being asked to leave the GCB the week before. Shortly after, he announced a student boycott of the GCB in response to the incident, along with a list of demands from bar staff including an apology to students involved and improvements to the GCB’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
You may think the bar made a mistake in apologizing, but they apparently rent their space from the university, so they may not have had much of a choice in the matter.
Featured image via YouTube.
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