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U. Arizona Black Student Activists Demand Removal of Queer Latina Diversity Chief

U. Arizona Black Student Activists Demand Removal of Queer Latina Diversity Chief

“we have seen how people like Alvarez use their positions to enforce persecution against Black students”

There are so many boxes checked in this story that it’s hard to keep track of all of it.

The College Fix reports:

Black activists want queer Latina diversity chief removed at University of Arizona

Black activists at the University of Arizona want to see a queer Latina diversity chief removed from her role due to several incidents, which they say show he is not a good fit for the role.

The Coalition of Black Students and Allies and the African American Student Affairs office continue to demand the university remove Interim Associate Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Maribel Alvarez from her role. Alvarez is also an anthropologist and “folklorist.” She describes herself as an “immigrant” and “queer” in her university bio.

The controversy includes Alvarez (pictured) calling the police on a “Black, queer and disabled student,” named Kai Leigh Harriott, according to the The Daily Wildcat.

An October Instagram post accused the university of “slowly and meticulously slaughtering BIPOC, Disabled, Queer, and Trans students, staff, and faculty members with extreme prejudice!”

An opinion writer for the campus newspaper wrote:

Harriott, a Black, queer and disabled student, said she experienced the first-hand effects of this abuse by several administrators at the UA, but most notably by the Interim Associate Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Maribel Alvarez. Alvarez’s own title signifies that she is presumed to be someone that listens to those who are marginalized and oppressed by institutions. Yet, we have seen how people like Alvarez use their positions to enforce persecution against Black students.

Beginning on Aug. 31, a series of negative interactions between Harriott and Alvarez occurred that subsequently caused Harriott to attempt to file a complaint against Alvarez to the UA Office of Institutional Equity. Harriott was informed that her complaint would not be investigated.

Alvarez called the police on Harriott after the student refused to leave her office and began screaming at her on September 30. A friend of Harriott had earlier referred to Alvarez as a “bitch,” according to a police report linked in the Daily Wildcat article.

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Comments

The Gentle Grizzly | November 17, 2022 at 8:24 am

“Interim Associate Vice Provost for Diversity”? Talk about a “job” that shouldn’t exist. Nor should any other such position.

As for the students doing all the protesting: find another school. Fisk, Grambling, Morehouse… You can take “studies” classes anywhere.

Morning Sunshine | November 17, 2022 at 9:06 am

I am so confused by the story. Seems like everyone involved is disrespectful and unkind. Gee, why would that be?
Maybe because “diversity” is built on grievance instead of love.

    henrybowman in reply to Morning Sunshine. | November 17, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    While rewatching the original “Lost in Space,” I encountered a scene in which Maureen tries to explain Doctor Smith’s perennial personality defect to a distraught Penny by explaining that Smith is a “grievance collector.” I’d never come across the term before, but immediately recognized its relevance to today’s culture. Today, the hardworking Robinsons are all cast as patriarchal, racist, capatalist, white supremacist exploiters, while the morally-damaged Doctor Smith is now the hero of the story, the one whose whims must be satiated at all costs.

    Chuckin Houston in reply to Morning Sunshine. | November 18, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    Jerks and arseholes all around.

Stupid, useless people with no practical skills that add anything of value to human civilization.

The revolution eats its own.

I once took over a commercial lease from a bankrupt pet store. The owner had been an incompetent stoner. When the time came for him to be evicted, he still hadn’t disposed of his stock, so he just let them all loose – including over 100 fancy rats, which proceeded to range all over the neighborhood causing havic, but kept returning to the store building as their base of operations. In desperation, I bought a couple bags of bait cubes and distributed them all over the interior. Even as I was placing them, rats would fearlessly dart up to me and snatch them from my hands with their paws, and then multiple other rats would dart up to them and try to snatch the cubes away. It was unnerving to see them fighting each other over the meal that would ultimately kill them.

This story entirely reminds me of that.

Wait, wait, wait. So, you’re saying this identity-badgering is a power game to assert authority and dominate other, to extract concessions by extortion?

This is my shocked face.

“slowly and meticulously slaughtering BIPOC, Disabled, Queer, and Trans students, staff, and faculty members with extreme prejudice!”

Why not just go with something short and catchy instead like “Heretic!”

Get your programs here!! You can’t tell a preferred minority player without a program!!

    henrybowman in reply to Dimsdale. | November 17, 2022 at 9:14 pm

    I heard a rumor that Excel invariably crashes before social scientists can produce a perfect ordered intersectionality preference graph.

Anyone keeping a scorecard

This whole screaming thing reminds me of “shrieking girl” at Yale a few years ago. Who acts like that? Are these black student activists saying that they should have that right? Then what will people think of them?