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  B

During a division wide development day on getting students from enrollment to

completion at South Seattle College the schedule was paused mid-meeting because an incident of

racial climate was brought up in the group. After commenting on the issue we continued with the

scheduled plan. About thirty minutes later a black employee stopped the conversation and asked,

“how long are going to continue to ignore that this conversation is not supposed to stop? When

are we going to have this conversation?” After almost twenty years on campus this employee

shared feeling invisible. They spoke to the reflection that their experience is reflective of the

same concerns that black students have brought up during protests and demonstrations. This

contested issue was an issue of politics and morals that has continuously come up in education

and we see currently being highlighted more and more by the media. So much that schools are

finding a need to address or get rid of the problem without stirring media outlets.

The person in charge of incident reports and hate crimes at the South Seattle campus was

there and was being asked about how these issues were being addressed. More than 80 people sat

in a room together with a different understanding of how they fit in the context of this

conversation. But don’t we all fit in as a part of the institution?

I have not been a South Seattle for long and I will not be there for much longer because I

will be graduating and moving but this space was still shared with me. While I fundamentally

 believe that whether I am there one day or there for years I should be able to step on any campus

and feel safe I only participated in the conversation as an observer. Still, hearing a person of

color take a moment to exhale after almost 20 years of dedication to an institution was scary to

see as an entry level professional that has only seen three years of the politics and negotiation it

takes to be a womxn of color in a a middle class profession.

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  C

This issue stood out as important to me because the campus climate of the institution

drives how the mission of an institution is lived out. If staff is feeling invisible at an institution

and they are resources, mentors, and leaders to our students then how can they rightfully care for

our students? I think of how I have tried to bring up concerns of students at my assistantship at

Seattle U who feel unseen but when I bring up there concerns to the department because I am

also unseen then the person that my student went to for support can’t even advocate for them. In

cases like the one at South Seattle staff members went to the NAACP and to the media. But

where do we go without escalating the issue? Should we not be able to address these issue within

our campus resources? I believe that it is important to institutionalize the response as an action

(Tinto, 2012) of the campus. Unfortunately, the foundations of our practice (LO#1) continue to

have a gap in providing these tools for all professionals. As diverse as an institution may be it

does not mean that it is not ingrained in a culture of whiteness. This space makes me wonder

what my role is in new emerging foundations and research.

During my professional development these last two years I continue coming back to a

question about my leadership (LO, #6). As a womxn of color how is possible to engage as a

 professional when you are perceived incompetent and unprofessional when you bring up issues

of race. How do we build integrity and ethical practices (LO, #3) to provide feedback and bring

up hate crime if there are not enough institutional policies that will support the employees.

As an intern at this campus that is working on building visibility for undocumented

students these are questions that I need answered if I want students to feel safe seeking services

on campus. This safe campus environment needs to be for our students and all levels of

employees to really commit to the campus culture.

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  D

Tinto, V. (2010). From theory to action: Exploring the institutional conditions for student

retention. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Vol.XXV. 51-90