I am a black student at Mount Holyoke College, the first of the seven sister schools, which was started because no other American colleges accepted women. Mount Holyoke women are taught to be bold, to never fear change, and to speak up against injustice… unless you’re a student of colour. 177 years later white male privilege still reigns supreme here. And it is actively reinforced by campus police.
I spent the early hours of Saturday morning at the South Hadley Police Department having been arrested at Mount Holyoke for “breach of peace.” This is how the story begins.
My boyfriend Sam came to visit me on a whim so I took my blankets and my things to an unoccupied room in the dorm where my friends and I often hang out. I have a roommate who I couldn’t kick out on such short notice so I set up the other room for Sam and I to hangout. On Friday night Sam and I were drinking in that room with some of our friends when suddenly two officers from campus police showed up.
A few of my friends simply disappeared. Sam was in the bathroom and so they only found me and one of my friends in the room. Without telling us what we had done wrong the officer demanded our student IDs which we gave to him and he told us that he was writing us a dean’s referral. I asked him what we were being referred for. He said that he had received a noise complaint, and from what he could see we were drinking and smoking weed. Firstly, there is a lot to be said about the Mount Holyoke “community” when students do not try to talk to their neighbours about noise but immediately resort to calling campus police. Campus police should not come and intervene if there hasn’t been any attempt by the students to come to a solution. Secondly, at the age of 21 drinking is perfectly within the law. As for the weed, the room did not smell like weed at all. I do not smoke weed and my friend and I were asking not be sent to the dean for something we had not done. My friend left soon after seeing that there was no use in talking to the officers, it seemed that their minds were already made up from the moment they walked in. I would have left too except that all my belongings were in the room.
When Sam came back from the bathroom the situation was still calm. One officer asked if we knew each other which I said we did. The officer shook Sam’s hand, introduced himself and apologized that they had to meet in these circumstances. When the officer realized that the room was not assigned to me he asked me to leave. I began to take my pillows and he told me to put them down. Everything was to stay there because he couldn’t confirm that I wasn’t stealing the property. I resigned then to just taking my phone and my laptop. But the officer would not let me take my laptop because he assumed that I was stealing it, they would have to take the laptop with them, he said.
There were very easy ways to check if the laptop was mine. I showed him the user name on the laptop and it obviously matched the name on my student ID, still this was not sufficient. And yet as a white man, although not even a student, Sam was allowed to take his bag and laptop out of the room without having to prove anything to anyone. When he takes stuff he is just taking his things, when I do, I am stealing.
He could have walked out with any number of things and never have been seen or heard of again. He could have even walked out with my laptop and that would have been fine. I am assumed guilty and not given a chance to prove myself innocent. Sam is assumed innocent and has no need to prove anything. The only only thing he needed, to prove that he wasn’t stealing, was to be white. Whereas they know that I am a Mount Holyoke student, they had my ID, they saw the username was mine and they know where I live.
They began to converse with him politely, discussing my situation with him like I wasn’t in the room, like Sam was the student here, like I was not the one being (wrongly) accused, or like Sam was my father and they were discussing with him the actions of his dependent. Or they were just fellow white men discussing the audacity of a black person to not accept racist treatment.
Officer: “She just needs to calm down.”
Sam: “I hear you.”
Then Sam proceeded to come to me to tell me I needed to more cooperative. Cooperative to being accused of smoking weed and stealing? Cooperative to having my things confiscated while he keeps his? He again told me to relax and in a slightly higher voice I explained that he needed to stop telling me that. The officer called the dean on duty.
I was happy to have a dean come to the room. I knew that she would see how ridiculous the situation was. Besides, having a woman in the room would be helpful (it was becoming unclear whether it was my race or my gender that warranted this treatment.) I waited calmly, but Sam kept coming to me, telling me to calm down. I told him to leave me alone about six times in the presence of the officers. They said nothing.
When the dean got there she was the first person who tried to listen to my side of the story. I explained that I was not smoking weed and asked her if she could even smell any weed. “I am not trained to,” she said, because there wasn’t even the faintest trace of weed smell in that room. But if the story got to the dean of students she would say it was my word against campus police’s and she would shrug and say she has to go with campus police’s word. Maybe it would be useful if the deans on duty were equipped to verify the accusations they allow to be passed on us.
The officer interjected on my conversation with the dean to add that I was refusing to leave. I asked him in front of the dean, “Was I or was I not trying to leave when you told me to?” Three times he refused to answer my question. And I pleaded with the dean, to the point where I was in tears, to see how unjust the situation was. I was not refusing to leave I was refusing to leave without my things. I was getting very frustrated that nobody was hearing me.
Sam came up to me yet again, in front of the two officers and the dean, telling to calm down. They all saw me ask him for the seventh time to leave me alone. Even though they could see that it was upsetting me, they did not ask him to respect my wishes and my personal space. At some point I was saying, “Please, please leave me alone” in tears. They watched him continuously come into my face. And then I finally said: “You do not go here, you do not face the same consequences that I am facing right now.”
The whole time I was saying this both Sam and the cops were repeatedly speaking over me saying “Maya, Maya.” And “You need to calm down right now.” I said to Sam, “You can’t be serious. He can introduce himself to you, shake your hand. He had no such courtesy with me.” Again the whole time as I am speaking to him the officers and the dean are in the background repeatedly saying “Maya, Maya.” Sam said “No, you don’t understand.”
Me: “I can’t believe this. I actually cannot believe this.”
Sam: “Let it be done right now!” he says raising his voice. Nobody tells him to calm down.
Me: “Wow, I cannot believe this, I actually cannot believe this.”
All four of them” Maya, Maya”
Officer: “If you don’t calm down, I’m placing you under arrest do you understand that?”
I told him that it would not be the first time white people refused to see their own privilege. Then Sam came and put his hand on me.
I shouted, “Sam if you don’t leave me alone I swear!!”
Sam, in a soft condescending voice: “Maya, Maya you need to listen to me.”
Me: “Sam-“ He tries to grab my arm, I move it away. “Sam-” He grabs my arm. Shouting, “Sam you are aggravating me to a point that I don’t want to get to!”
Officer: “Turn around!” He turns me toward the wall. “Place your hands behind your back.”
I did not fight them off or resist at all.
Officer: “You’re under arrest, ok? Breach of peace…You know I really wish it did not come to this but we have no choice, Maya.”
While I was in handcuffs crying quietly the officer had a conversation with Sam and the dean.
Officer: “We are transporting her down to South Hadley PD. If she has $45 she can probably make bail.”
Sam: “I’ll see her out.”
Officer: “But right now she’s…she’s…she needs to calm down.”
Dean: “I agree.”
I have been quietly crying in the corner.
Officer: “If she doesn’t calm down we can’t bring her back.”
I was transported to the station in handcuffs, I was searched, had mug shots taken, and slept in a cell till the bail clerk arrived. I had refused to pay bail and was ready to spend the weekend in jail. But when the bail clerk heard their accusations he could not see the seriousness of my offense. He told them to drive me back to school and to bring me to court on Monday. Not once were my rights read to me.
I made a voice recording of everything that took place leading up to my arrest, which is how I can quote everyone verbatim. At some point while Sam was conversing with the officers, my laptop started playing “say something I’m giving up on you.” A hilarious moment fit for the big screen. But he did not say something. He failed to act. As loving and kind as Sam is, and as much as he considers himself an ally to people of colour, on that day he stood firmly on the side of white oppression. His whiteness alone guaranteed him their attention, he could have asked them to afford me the same courtesy. On the recording it is clear that every single time I spoke, the dean, the officers and Sam were interrupting, interjecting and talking over me. The best thing he could have done would have been to point out to campus police that they were wrongly accusing me and that they were treating him, a complete stranger, better than they were treating a student. And when Sam saw that I was being arresting for finally reacting to his insistent provocation he needed to tell them that “She did tell me to leave her alone and I kept approaching her.” Because I did repeatedly ask him and at one point begged him to leave me alone, but they watched him and allowed him to ignore my wishes.
A black man in the same context would have never been allowed to keep harassing me. And if he grabbed me, that would have constituted as assault and aggression. And certainly a black man would have never been allowed to leave that room with a laptop without having to prove that it was his. I understand that Sam was not aware of the dynamics at play. But that is what makes white privilege so lethal. So-called allies of people of colour, acknowledging your white privilege means realizing that you are not being treated respectfully because you are a better person, you are being treated differently because you are white.
Mount Holyoke campus police, your job is to protect Mount Holyoke students, even if they are black. You not only wrongly accused me of smoking weed, you accused me of theft and then allowed a man to continuously harass me in front of you. Mount Holyoke campus police and the dean on duty watched a man put his hands on me, and then arrested me for shouting about it. It seems as a black person your only option is to allow yourself to be mistreated. To be wrongly accused and harassed. A white man can go as far as grabbing your body. It is your crime to not allow him to.
– Maya Wegerif
*The names in the story have been changed.
The DoubleX Chromosome 
I really hope you broke up with Sam.
As a father of woman of color I am completely ashamed of this chapter at a place which I have always respected and have seen with admiration, specially because this is the place which turned my daughter into a woman who knows how to respect herself as a woman and came out of the institution more of a woman than I ever expected, I am an extremely proud MHC father, but this chapter is completely unacceptable and worse yet that the college, I assume since it says nothing to the contrary in this article, did not make sure Maya would be treated with respect regardless of race, creed or color. Shame shame on those who created the incident and worse shame yet on those who did not act with respect and above it all understanding… Quite upsetting, I am glad it was not my daughter because I would not be sitting here writing, I would have been at MHC asking questions and shaking trees…
I wish I could say I am surprised by the behavior of these police officers. I am so sorry this is how you had to spend your weekend. Being another black woman I understand your pain on so many levels. Being an anthropology major and delving into dynamics of black women in America makes this even more painful to read. We are ignored and silenced and your story is the truth of oppression against black women. Please make sure your story is heard on all platforms. I cannot stress how important it is for us as black women to stay united and speak up for ourselves and for each other. We cannot allow this problem of invisibility to continue. So girl speak up and keep speaking up.
Black people are always perceived as perpetrators and whites as victims discrimination still exist.
It is so true. In every space! Even one where I am a registered student and he is a stranger. His whiteness still gives him agency.
I don’t understand why every thing has to be always portrayed black and white. If everything was that simple, then people would be so confident about their lives. The police officers did not misbehave. Sam did not yell. The dean of students did not yell. Even if it was wrongful accusation, if the person does not stay calm, it’s very easy to arrest them for disorderly conduct. I see how she must think it’s unfair. If I was wrongfully accused, I would’ve felt that way too, but to not stay composed and misbehave while also being drunk and the police officers arresting her for it…it doesnt necessarily mean that it’s because she’s black. It’s so easy to play the blame game without seeing every side. This is just one side. We should hear it from more than one side, particularly when the person was not completely conscious.
1. You are assuming that Sam was sober, which he was not. Yet they listened to him.
2. Sam did yell.
3. Always people of color must remain silent when they are mistreated. That’s nonsense.
This kind of comment is why we people of color cannot speak about their experiences and or seek justice for themselves. We are always painted as only giving one side and or are assumed to not be truthful. This is not about playing a blame game, this is about holding those in power to intimidate, harm, and arrest us accountable. Trust me, it is not POC’s who make everything about race, our society built on hierarchies of race, class, and gender does it all by itself. It is only your inability to want to acknowledge this and critically engage it that is a blame game –> Blaming the marginalized for their marginalization.
No, this kind of comment is the kind that happens when somebody is hesitant to make a judgement about a situation when their only evidence is a testimony provided by a possibly intoxicated and clearly emotional party. For example, it may have been that Sam seemed more sober than Maya, a viewpoint that would be reinforced by Maya’s inability to stay calm, and something that Maya might not be in a position now to verify or deny. I am in no way saying that there was no injustice here, and it is very helpful that Maya made a voice recording as this could be crucial evidence. That being said, claiming that anyone who doesn’t take these claims at face value is “part of the problem” is ridiculous.
I think what is more ridiculous Dan, is that you cannot see that the police officers if giving their side will of course give the opinion that Maya was aggressive and irrational. They could easily say that Sam seemed more sober and calm as opposed to Maya. BUT that is the issue here, that if we are choosing to believe Maya’s account, which I am then these officers will not be choosing to lie or be dishonest in their statements. They will be speaking from the perspective of individuals that read black and brown bodies as being more irrational and not calm. That is what Maya is saying here, those police officers really did feel she was being more irrational and needed to calm down. That is why her experience is resonating with many POC. Hearing the police officers side will not change what Maya is asserting. That because of discourses around race in this society these police officers will feel they were reading Maya’s tone and body language as aggressive even if it was not. It will not seem like they are trying to twist the story around or lying. That is white privilege that is racism it is deeply entrenched in how we see and view people’s behaviors. Also, equating being emotional about an experience as meaning one cannot be logical or as trustworthy is often an attack on marginalized people’s credibility. The ones that most LOGICALLY and CALMLY speak on issues that may involve racism are of course NOT going to be POC because we are just too dumb to not twist the truth based on our uncontrollable emotions. That itself is a racist discourse. I am not saying that POC are always right, but your response is a textbook response of immediate invalidation of race or racism as the root of an issue.
I am all for things are not simple and black and white yet here you are giving a black and white picture. You were not there and suddenly wrote who did and didn’t yell and who misbehaved. Why is your idea of who yelled and who didn’t even relavent? She didn’t write the dean yelled. What does that have to do with Maya’s horrible treatment? She is reporting because she is the one who experienced this and if you want another story you should be looking and hear the police, not write your own version saying Maya was drunk and misbehaving. Again were you there to see how she behaved? How can you so confidently say Maya was not completely conscious. She said she drank but that doesn’t mean she drank to the point of becoming unconscious. Maya was mostly calm except denying false accusation and crying later. Since when is explaining yourself and crying disorderly conduct and breach of peace? The people breaching peace were the ones patronizing her with their “hush hush child” choir. Maya has a recording and can have the world hear what went wrong and anyone could hear. If she did misbehave and acted rowdy everyone would hear it. I hate it when the people creating the situation play the blame game telling someone to calm down. I am disgusted they would present themselves as some authority while freely saying Maya’s name not out of politness but in a way to “put her in her place.” If you feel uncomforatble seeing any race and want the color blind approach go ahead and see it that way. Then Maya’s arrest and her talking about the recording should make even less sense and anger you. I really don’t understamd while a resident of the campus would be treated so poorly while a visibly male non-student whom most mhc students would consider suspicious would be greeted with introduction right away.
Women are to be seen and not heard, correct!?? Wow. To you she is also invisible.
I am so sorry that happened to you. I hope that Mount Holyoke as a community can talk about this and work on our perceptions and reactions.
If someone doesn’t want to confront someone else, they call campo. That is perfectly reasonable. Also, you were in a room you weren’t supposed to be in which campo had no reasonable explanation for you to be in. Just being unoccupied doesn’t make it your hangout space. Also, under 21s had access and it was not your own private room, making the alcohol concern legitimate. Sam had every right to tell you to calm down and from the sounds of it did not “grab” you. As emotional as you were right then, you may have perceived it differently and portrayed it more harshly in your writings especially to get attention. Anyone overreacting and not calming down to assess and address the situation with a clear mind would have been treated like that. You should not call out campus police here but instead realize your own actions are to blame. There is no prejudice involved- just your own inability to be calmer.
That’s exactly what Campo and Sam thought too. I disagree.
Overreacting won’t get you anywhere. Neither will blowing things out of proportion. You are mistakenly causing people who believe everything they read to mistrust campus police based on one person’s emotional one-sided perspective.
I am glad you think I am blowing things out of proportion and I wish I was. Racism is so blatant that it should be unbelievable. And it should continue to shock us. We should never become numb to the mistreatment of people of colour.
You disagree because on one hand you have the following:
– You are in the wrong and you must accept responsibility for your actions.
On the other:
– It is society that is wrong, therefore you are not to blame for anything that happens. It is the white man’s fault.
Obviously the second option appeals to you more. Therefore certain aspects of this paper are exaggerated or written in your favor to rally support for your opinion. Keep writing as many scathing blog posts as you want, but the fact remains that you acted disorderly and were arrested.
By the way, before you try to claim that I’m just some white guy, I’m a black man living in the nation’s capitol and happily attending college.
Yes, she was in a room that she wasn’t supposed to be in, but is that something that merits getting arrested?
How is she in the wrong for wanting to leave a room with her own possessions? How is she in the wrong for being upset that people were being blatantly prejudice towards her?
Even the bail clerk didn’t know why she was there. I have heard this story a million times and it is always from my black friends and relatives. This isn’t a coincidence. This is systematic oppression in a place that claims it is “liberal and progressive” and it’s an outrage.
No. He did not have a right to badger her to tears. Campus Police is here to protect us as students. If he was upsetting her and she wanted to be left alone no matter the reason they should have been on her side first and foremost, as should the dean. Moreover can you explain why he was allowed to take his belongings freely? Or why he was not immediately dismissed from the premises?My black boyfriend would have been arrested the moment he came out of the bathroom
So true! I have also seen the treatment of black men on this campus. It would not have been the same at all.
So when someone gets upset in an encounter with pub safe it’s the officer’s fault? That’s just not true.
I’m not saying that this wasn’t an unfair situation to be in, but this account is (understandably) emotional, and it is hard to know the facts without having a witness.
MHC needs to starting putting resources into teaching their students how to be adults then. If you want someone on your floor to be quieter go to them directly OR if you are afraid to do so go to an RA. It is absurd to me as someone who works at a University that the first warning and point of communication is from the police. That is a waste of everyone’s time and endangers students sense of safety in a space that is supposed to be their home. Especially those students who have experience with unfair police treatment in their home communities and their lives. It is also just a plain bad structure for residential life and teaching students how to live together in a community.
Calm&Collected – I find your response pretty offensive. From the sounds of it, Maya WAS calm and collected at the beginning. She tried to leave but upon attempting to exit with HER belongings, was accused of stealing even after providing evidence that the items were in fact hers. She only became upset after she was so unfairly treated and had her boyfriend (somebody who should have been defending her) essentially patronizing her.
I am so sick of women being blamed for everything because they are “so emotional” and really just need to “calm down.” It does not matter if she “perceived” Sam’s actions in a way other than how he intended them because that is HER perception and therefore it is a VALID one.
Sam should have respected Maya’s wishes and left her alone! If somebody is crying- asking you to please leave them alone- how is it “overreacting” to become upset when they do not listen to you but instead continue getting in your face about it!? It is likewise offensive that you seem to think Maya is only seeking attention when it is obvious she is trying to spark a very necessary discussion about race relations, white privilege and insidious power structures.
MAYA – As a white woman, this story made me cry. It has made me much more aware of how to use/acknowledge my white privilege to be a better ally. Don’t ever let somebody tell you to calm down – you are entitled to your emotions and should not be treated as a criminal in a place where you are supposed to be safe.
TL;DR: This case is a really sad but illuminating example of black women’s intersecting oppression.
“…and from the sounds of it [he] did not ‘grab’ you.” What? She says multiple times, “he put his hand on me,” “he grabbed my arm,” etc. Soooooooo…..he DID grab her. What is this “from the sounds of it,” crap? You’re blatantly just discounting the facts of her narrative because you don’t like what she has to say (which, fittingly, is a commonly used tool in undermining women of color).
Contact a lawyer. Break up with Sam. Find a way to publicize the shit out of this…I’m almost embarrassed to be a part of this community. This makes me severely mistrust Campus Police.
This is disgusting.
Oh my gosh. That is disgusting! What an injustice! And they say racism is dead…The fact that something to this degree was actually allowed to happen makes me feel sick to my stomach. You were well within your right. In fact, you handled the situation more calmly than I would have. This needs to reach every ear, everyone needs to read this. Thank you for making this post. I will pass it along to everyone I know. This is another reason why being black is something to be proud of. We are tough in the face of opposition, and even though we are sometimes treated unjustly, we overcome. You are a very strong girl, Maya. I want you to know that.
I believe that the account here is accurate given what I’ve seen on campus, but at some points I just wanted to say “really??? no, really?” having formerly been on reslife.
you cannot just drink in an unoccupied room. If a room is not assigned to anyone, it’s supposed to be locked up. If you are 21+ you can only drink in a room that is a private residence (that is, YOUR PRIVATE RESIDENCE).
re: the idea that your community “owes” you some kind of interaction before they call campus police on you…it may seem harsh, but they absolutely do not. many people want to live in a drug-free space, and people who are drinking are often louder than they realize. keep in mind that you partied in what was previously an unoccupied room. also, have you considered how YOU interact with the hall? are you friendly? do you give people an opportunity to talk to you? do people in the hall have the impression that you would react well to being asked to quiet down while drunk? either way somebody may have just wanted to sleep after a hard week of studying.
the other stuff is pretty obviously racist bullshit and I’m sorry you had to deal with it. I hope you broke up with that guy. I hope that the Residential Life office is compassionate and that the issue can be sorted through more fairly.
Jaded Former Mobo, I must respectfully disagree. As a current reslife professional and former RA of three years I think you absolutely have to consider that intervention by a RA would have been an important step in this process. Note that the police called in a dean AFTER they arrived at the scene and had already alienated her in the situation. The reason a RA or other reslife should be present to at least witness, if not handle the issue independently, is based on the same assumptions you just made in the above post. If the student has a prior background of non compliant behavior on the hall the person with the most insight into that behavior should be the RA. Who better to provide information and direction to the police before they go into the situation? Also, assuming that there is prior misbehavior on Maya’s part that would make people uncomfortable confronting her calling the police immediately escalates the situation, when calling a RA who should be trained on how to respond to a variety of situations can deescalate or kill situation completely. Also, I’m not sure what the structure of reslife at the school is but if the RA has had problems with this resident and was notified why wouldn’t a dean already be present, since when campus police enter the picture most programs I know have their on call staff notified to be on hand. That’s important for tracking behavior in the halls and also for the protection of students in cases where police force may get out of hand. Maybe there is a history of noncompliance with Maya in the past on the hall but I don’t think that means that the first step in addressing a situation should be calling the police.
Dear Other options,
I was on ResLife for a substantial amount of years at Mount Holyoke so I am incredibly familiar with residential life in general, the dorm in question, and even vaguely know the student. The way that Residential Life is structured at this college means that when students report problems/noise complaints in the rooms late at night, they call Campus Police most of the time. Regular students don’t even have the dean on call’s number, and most residential life staff are (rightfully) asleep in their rooms and not on duty during incredibly late hours (when I was a student, on duty hours were 10 – 2 AM on weekends). Even in this situation, a residential life staff member would have to bump it up to campus police because of the drinking in an unoccupied room/possible pot smell (not saying that anyone did it re: the above post, but that if psafe thought it was an element SOMEONE in the dorm likely was doing it).
However you choose to move forward with this, I support you and I’m sure many others will!
A perfect example of how the society discriminates people based on race. We keep telling ourselves that there are no racism, yet, racism have taken a different form and we are not even aware of it.Nowadays, you will not get any direct racist confrontation, because it has become sort of a “passive-aggressive” style of confrontation. We used to see it, it used to be the tip on the iceberg, now it gets deeper than that.
I am telling you this, because I have faced a very similar situation in Virginia. I am an Asian male studying at the Johns Hopkins University, while my girlfriend is an Asian female studying at MHC.
I was moving to a new apartment in Virginia and my girlfriend who interned in DC had came to visit for the summer. She helped me out to move my stuffs and furniture to the new apartment, everything went so horribly wrong – but that is a different story ( the management at my new place were incompetent). We finished our 3 day and 3 night move out and got tired of it. My friends from Seattle and the Czech Republic came here to visit me and so we were preparing to go out with them. When we got into the car, the stress got the worst out of us. We kept arguing over little things and my girlfriend and me ended up getting a little bit wild in the car, I tried to hold her hands and tell her to calm down, but because of how she moved her hand when holding mines, my hand accidentally hit her in the face and so she went out of control and started to run from the car. I tried to grab her arm and tell her to comeback ( I was worried, because she didn’t know the area very well). When everything calmed down, there was a white male sitting in a car in front of my car on the phone. His car was parked in a very weird position, then my gut told me that he had called the cops. After 5 minutes of driving I heard a pullover siren behind me and the cops asked me to get out of the car. They split my girlfriend and me on different side and started to ask us to write the whole incident on the paper. One of the officers told me that it might not be that serious, that I should write how I feel about the situation and be honest about it. So I wrote what has happened, on my first paper I had written a lot of my thoughts, but then I have realized that was not what exactly happened, so I told the officers to get rid of that paper and I didn’t even sign it. My second paper was more accurate. We spent 1 hour total talking to the police, both of us were hungry and tired from the move out, I just wanted them to leave us alone. They were searching for drugs, weapons and other causes that might get me into jail. Then they started to talk about my foreign driver’s license which was valid in Virginia, the police officer asked me if I have a driver’s license so I showed them my international driver’s license, I couldn’t believe that don’t even know the law and they dared to marked into their documents that my driver’s license was not present when I was driving my friend’s car. So after some confrontation, I heard the police officers saying “back off”, but of course, there was this little b*tch playing the hero and she charged me with felony (abduction) because I grabbed my girlfriend’s hand. They claimed that they did all of this to protect my girlfriend, so when they arrested me, they left her in that area, which she is not even familiar with. These hypocrites need to learn some moral values and common sense, I am very sad that my fellow Americans are paying taxes for these useless idiots that are supposed to protects the Americans citizens from harm. Because I am an international student, I didn’t have the right to get a public defender, my girlfriend had to bail me out and hire me a lawyer. After 1 week in jail, they decided to drop the abduction and charge me with assault and battery, so I have take an anger management class in 6 months and pay some more money to clean my records. Right now, I have problems paying for my tuition, I can’t even find a job because of that record and I am scared to go back to my country to visit my parents, since they will have a reason not to renew my visa.
Speak up, always speak up, don’t let them bully you. It will haunt you for the rest of your life.
If you know of any organization that helps victims from police abuse, contact me – shdevil.nguyen@gmail.com.
Maya, I am sorry for what happened to you, I know how you feel.
Thank you for sharing this. I’m sure you will get many more negative reactions and comments like some of those above about playing the race card or urging you to blame yourself and not the system, but the reality is that all of these behaviors (on the part of Sam, the dean, and campus police) are rooted in an incredible amount of oppressive history and systematic patterns of distrust and mistreatment of people of color in this country, especially black women.
People who are justifying your arrest because you were drunk or in a place you weren’t supposed to be are just clinging onto any piece of story they can get to say to themselves–no no no, this isn’t real, this isn’t the world we live in, look it’s your own fault. What they fail to see is the gravity and reality of the situation–not only yours, but what yours represents.
Again, thanks for your bravery. Solidarity!
Amazingly well-put and SO true. Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing this. Know that this sentiment is felt by most colored people on campus.
I am horrified that you had to deal with this at the school that I am (was?) proud to call my alma mater.
Yes, you should not have been in an unoccupied room, consuming liquor. To me, technical your wrong doing ends there. That being said, when I was a student at MHC, it was extremely common and completely a part of campus life, to occupy these “prohibited” spaces and make merry.
There is no excuse for Sam being allowed to repeatedly, visibly and audibly aggravate you, a MHC student. There is no excuse for the Dean on Call and the Campus Police to have furthered this aggravation– especially when your concerns over leaving your belongings are quite well-founded. These circumstances that led to your arrest are appalling and insanely rooted in white-privilege.
Maybe you could have been more calm, but there is absolutely no excuse for the members of YOUR campus community not respecting your basic dignity, and your right for a safe space.
I know many alums are behind you on this, we will continue to share this article. Many of us are planning on voicing our outrage to the College. Please post and let us know if we can support additionally.
Christ. Your writing is atrocious. I’m no longer proud to call MHC my alma mater if this is how you turned out….
And you, Ma’am, are a terrible and judgemental soul. A blog comment, made from a smartphone at the wee hours of the morning, is no basis to pass judgement on someone. My comments were intended to provide support, not win a Pulitzer. Way to marginalize someone in the comments section of a blog post about marginalization. Classy.
Hey Jesus- just curious, how many languages do you speak?
Maya, thank you for sharing this. CantEven put it so well. To all the people who want to make justifications for campus police, Sam, or the Dean- your responses are further proof of Maya’s point. Thank you for publicly talking about this. It’s so so so important.
Every story like this I read or hear is truly troubling… but almost less so than the insistent denial that many people have of the truth of continuing racism in our society. It is far to easy for us to buy into the narrative of societal progress, and declare that racism is a thing of the past. I say “us” as a white man, who until confronted with my privilege found it only too easy to dismiss racism as largely dealt with, or as a problem existing only in far away places. Racism isn’t a problem that’s in the town over, or the other neighborhood, or up the street. Racism is in my head and my friends’ heads, and it is a constant fight against oneself not to assume stances of privilege in everyday life. It’s truly a sickening aspect of life, and I can only imagine the heartache it causes to those who cannot ignore it, and live with its reality for their entire lives.
This is disgusting. And I hope you broke up with Sam.
I think it’s very interesting how they kept insisting that you be calm, as though being emotional about a situation that you felt was unjust is against the law… Women, when they voice their opinions, are so often told to do it “nicely” and “respectfully”, when being UNcalm and angry even is what needs to happen for people to actually take our opinions seriously.
I’m so sorry you had to go through this. Racism is still clearly in the picture. I’m only a high school student but I see the white kids get away with so much. A black kid could raise his voice and all the sudden the police would have to get involved. Its sad that after tens of years this still exists today. There are more white people in prison today then black, why aren’t they being treated like this?
This is coming from a white girl, I know based on experience that the authorities of my high school shrug aside any issue witb white kids but do not provide the same courtesy with the black.
I wish this surprised me. I’m an alum, and racist behavior from pub safe was NOT uncommon when I was a student. I hope you get a lot of traction from this. And to people saying you deserved it because you were in an empty room drinking, um, so many white students do the same exact thing every weekend, and you bet your ass they don’t get sent to JAIL.
Oh, and isn’t it funny how they’ll get the SHPD involved for a noise complaint, but sexual assault is supposed to be kept to campus police/dean of students to keep our crime rates down? Just saying…
I can’t believe that, as you share your experience, other commenters continue to insist your rights weren’t violated. I am so sorry this happened and that people can’t hear you. Please speak up for all of us.
-A Seven Sisters alum
This is absolutely terrible and unacceptable, I am so sorry for you. Come to Bryn Mawr, discrimination is not nearly as bad here.
thank you for sharing your experience. i wish i could be surprised at the actions of mount holyoke officials here but i’m honestly not. and to anyone claiming that because of noise or alcohol they had the right to arrest you, that is complete bullshit. you were very clearly treated differently because of your race. anyone who has been to a party that has gotten campus police called to at mount holyoke knows that most people, even if underage, will get no punishment or sent to ADAP. they wouldn’t get falsely accused of things they didn’t do like stealing or drugs. and most people who do drugs on this campus who are white don’t get punished either, even if smoking in broad daylight in the middle of campus. so even though maya wasn’t doing anything wrong, she gets punished, while white students who actually commit crimes get treated very differently. i’m glad you recorded everything, hopefully something comes of this. but to those saying you should break up with sam, that’s completely your business and not anyone else’s, what matters here is how everyone in this situation treated maya and how she’s fighting back against that.
Maya,
I’m so sorry to see this has happened on our campus again, and as an alumnae, I am saddened to see our Campus Police STILL has not learned from their past actions. I remember when I was a student a few years ago PubSafe falsely stopped and roughed up a BLACK PROFESSOR (once among many other incidents involving race during my time there).
During my time there there were many public townhalls/discussions in BCC about more training for the officers, but things have CLEARLY not changed, and I’m so ashamed to see it.
Please stay strong and let us know if you need anything. We (my network of Mount Holyoke alumnae) have been discussing your situation and we support you 100%. You have a long history of alumnae of color behind you, and we know (and have experienced) exactly the kind of institutionalized prejudice from PubSafe/Campo that you are talking about now.
Please let us know if you need anything at all, and I hope this discussion spurs positive, sustainable change at Mount Holyoke.
I’m not white, and I’ve partied in an empty room before, there was nothing there but alcohol, everyone was over 21, and it didn’t get too loud, but it’s UNTHINKABLE to me that campus police would have even admonished me for being in a space “not assigned” to me. I don’t even think they would have asked about it. I remember they showed up at my dorm one weekend at 3 am when my music was playing loud enough to rattle the windows, and they were so nice about it. They asked no one about ages, or if they had a right to be there, or even for student ids. They merely told us to turn down the base (not even to shut off the music), and left. My friends have been seen in advance states of inebriation, underage, and all they got was rides home in the squad car, and a sober buddy (to take care of them while they sobered up). Campus police were great resources in my day, and we loved having them around. I’m sorry you had to go through everything you did. Campus police should be our allies. They should be trying to protect you above everything else (EVEN if you’d been high and yelling, as many of my friends have been).
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this. Thank you for picking it apart. Thank you for not remaining calm. Thank you for refusing to pay bail. Thank you for calling racism exactly what it is.
Thank you for sharing your story, Maya. Above all, the members of our community at Mount Holyoke should have never gone against you. Too often have Campus Police jeopardized the basic rights to safety for the students that they are meant to serve, and I’m sorry that your story has to be added to a history of actions they have taken that are completely unacceptable. Thank you for having the courage to stand as an individual representing a larger, albeit scary, reality that our community exists in.
Current colored student here, and I personally haven’t been through anything like this Moho. It’s crazy how difficult it is to get away from racism, but I’ve never encountered it here. I’m so sorry you had to go through this. I hope you continue to press this issue and I hope we as a community can show more support for this. I’ve also heard horrible stories of discrimination against students with permanent physical disabilities and this is unbelievable. Mount Holyoke’s supposed to be a progressive place (and definitely it is in comparison with most other colleges) but it clearly isn’t progressive enough. This is beyond unjust.
Reblogged this on OCG.
That’s a horrible story! You should publish the voice recording you made, unedited, to prove that they were in the wrong!
As horrible as the outcome is here, it sounds like throughout the entire discussion between Maya and campus police there was a distinct undertone of sides. Sam was in good rapport with the campus police, perhaps polite even. They shook hands. He didn’t argue with them, even to Maya’s dismay. Did Maya shake hands and accept that they were violating some rules for drinking in an unoccupied room, that they were possibly being louder than they thought?
It sounds more argumentative, and increasingly loud and yelling as it went on. What would played out if she was more amicable, and kept calm. And why was Sam, who is Maya’s “boyfriend” made out to be the same as an attacking criminal as he attempts to comfort her? Yes, he wasn’t being empathetic to her cries, but generally a boyfriend/girlfriend is not the enemy. It sounds like this whole situation was argumentative and self-righteous from the start, us vs them. No one going to be arrested. The only reason it got there was because Maya was getting increasingly loud/unruly. If it sounds like they were all talking and ignoring you, perhaps because you had passed the point of reasonable discussion.
Anytime anyone, black or white, decides to question authority of the police (albeit, campus police) in the middle of a violation, they will assert further authority. If you continue to antagonise, and cause issue, you risk arrest. This final part is not a race thing.
Because they are white security officers, does that cause Maya to question their authority here from the start?
This.
When did we lose our right to question the police? When did this become a police state and why are so many citizens happy to accept and encourage these increasing offenses on our basic rights as citizens? Also it’s clear you, campus PD and plenty of others consider her unruly and defiant because of her color. It’s racism. And to ignore or pander to that idea of black women as either doormats or raging whirlwinds with no in-between is just reinforcing racism.
Actually Maya takes issue with the handshaking. It’s not like Sam went to shake hands they afforded him a handshake which they didn’t to her. For them it was US against HER because they came in with the mindset of getting rid of some loud unruly party girls. Sam obviously had reason to not be angry because they did not immediately say they were going to write him up for smoking weed. Your analysis is very poor. Plus I don’t get where you got maya was being unruly. That is something you cannot judge based on what maya has written.
It doesn’t surprise me that things at MHC haven’t changed and frankly, it’s sad. Please forward this to Dean Davis if she is still there or meet with her. Hell, meet with Lynn. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior and needs to be addressed. Maybe a nice little lawsuit should be put in order. Don’t stop fighting!
After reading all these comments I literally can’t believe the denial of racism or the injustices dealt to you. But that’s exactly what the new racism looks like, complete and utter denial and that you have done “something” wrong like “breach of peace.”
Girl call yourself a lawyer and sue, they did not mirandize you. You have an amazing opportunity on your hands.
Hi Maya,
Thank you for sharing your story. I am a student at UMass and have had interactions with Mount Holyoke campus police and they were very kind and helpful. I am shocked and appalled that you did not receive equal and fair treatment. I admit that you were in the wrong having a party in a room that wasn’t your own but the interaction that followed was completely inappropriate and in my opinion, extremely bigoted. Even if race wasn’t the official reason for your treatment, it is plain to me that you were treated differently as a woman of color than your heterosexual white male non-student boyfriend, which is utterly unacceptable.
I just wanted to reach out and let you know that I stand by you. I have emailed campus police, the president and the dean of students and shared your blog entry on my facebook and tumblr and asked that my friends do the same. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed and I thank you for bringing it to light.
Best of luck.
First: in the cold, hard reality in which this struggle continues to be fought under unacceptably invisible circumstances in almost every case, I am so gratified and relieved to hear that you recorded this encounter. You should not have to exist in a world where your word against someone else’s will always break for that someone else, but your instincts – to record this incident, to behave in a manner beyond reproach so that no question regarding your behavior or right to be treated differently than you were could possibly hold water when exposed to the harsh light of day – not only established the veracity of your side of the story, but allowed you access to that critical platform of proof. You should, under no circumstances, be required to furnish proof in order to establish the validity of your own narrative in opposition to those whose mere word is proof enough. However, your quick thinking gave you the opportunity not only to tell your story (a right you have and clearly fight for courageously, even in the face of those wielding power and privilege in an attempt to silence you), but to establish its refusal to be turned away at the gates of privilege by serving as an unchanging narrative that plays by the rules of those in power and cannot be ignored by those who would silence you.
Secondly: while I find most of the status quo defending comments you have received to be deplorable, I believe that many of them were made in good faith, which only serves to underscore the deeper themes played out in your narrative: privilege is everywhere, and those who have the luxury of ignoring its destructive effects only serve to illustrate the urgent need to bring it to the attention of our collective social discourse as often as possible. As a queer, white, disabled cis-woman, I have found (in my own limited experience, which I offer only given the caveat of my own privilege and experiences) that addressing the axes of sex, gender and race create the most resistance in the conversations I have about the role of privilege in each of our lives. While it can be difficult work – exploring these issues with my partner, an upper middle class white cis-male, has allowed me to witness first-hand the ongoing, long-term struggle of a privileged person educating himself and grappling with all of the underlying assumptions that need to be abolished for him to live a more privilege-aware, allied existence – but that work in no way compares to the everyday battles, large and small, that must be fought by those without one or more forms of privilege. Giving one’s opinion in good faith is not enough to make it an acceptable response to the narrative of those who do not hold the same level of privilege as either the author of said opinion or the privileged perspective they espouse – one does not have to be personally privileged in order to give voice to the narrative of the privileged. Being a member of one or more unprivileged demographics does not guarantee the delivery of a perspective that appropriately addresses the subject matter at hand, and all of the disclaimers in the world cannot make a person immune to furthering the narrative of the privileged. Seeing this play out in a number of the comments left on this post saddens me, and I encourage those folks who find themselves defending the parties who held all of the power in this narrative to rigorously examine their own potential biases, and to understand that following up such a comment with a disclaimer of your own race, sex, etc does not make you immune to defending the powerful at the expense of the powerless.
Thirdly, a caveat: I want to add that while I want to honor your wishes by making every effort to have your story heard, should you yourself feel that you are in danger, or too disrupted by the effects of your own story being spread far and wide, I would like to continue to support you by doing everything I can to aid you in pulling it back/diverting any unwanted attention from you that you may receive. I mention this not as a discouraging or fear-inciting thought, but only as a recognition of the fact that this narrative is yours, and that while we out here can talk endlessly about this without consequence, the very nature of the injustice that brought you to write this piece means that any backlash is a burden you would bear while we commenters went on with our distanced lives, and I want to make sure that should your shared narrative cause you any undue hardship, it is recognized as your story, and that you can and should do anything you need to do to protect yourself, as you continue to be the bearer of all real-life consequences.
Lastly, and most importantly: I am so impressed with your courage, Maya, and I hope you are able to continue fighting to make your story heard. I will do my best to circulate it as far and wide as I am able, and I hope to aid you and the MHC community by adding my voice to the chorus of others calling for attention to be paid to this miscarriage of justice.
Love and admiration,
KB, MHC ’10
I am in admiration for this piece…
Much as I like MHC, I think you should pursue legal action. The ACLU would probably be more than happy to help.
I am an alum and connected with a large group of alums who are HORRIFIED by this story. I think it’s important for some institutional change and training to take place with the MHC security and South Hadley police. I’m am happy to be part of that organizing, if it’s already happening, or help start it if it needs to be started. Can you shoot me an email?
In solidarity,
Jaime Jenett ’97
jaimejenett@gmail.com
This TRUELY has my twat in a twist
As others have said, publicize the hell out of this. They always want us to “calm down.” Don’t.
i am a non-black person of color and attended mount holyoke. though i loved mhc, no part of this surprises me. dont back down, there are people who will be behind you every step of the way.
Will be picking this up with the board of trustees and the administrators. Thanks for speaking up, and for starting this important conversation.
Whoever is tryina claim this has got nothin to do with racism might as well be a bat!..or in denial..or ashamed of their white ways..i guess this is why black guys bang the life out of white guys in prison..be afraid
Maya, I’m an ’02 alum. I’m a Queer Korean America woman and I support you and affirm that your experience was fckd up. DON’T let this incident tear you down. We are in solidarity with you. You shouldn’t have been treated that way. I haven’t read all of your blog post responses from friends, supporters…etc but i want you to know that if you need us to call or write to the administration to 1.) remove the record of your “arrest” 2.) get the officers to be reported and made to take a training on appropriate conduct and multiculturalism 3.) request an appropriate response and action step from the administration to address this incident so that others are aware that this type of response/behavior is not acceptable. Geesh, it’s a fckin private liberal arts college, what the hell happened to all the touchy feely we’re all sisters…etc? If those @ssholes who called the campus police weren’t smart enough to come down and tell you to keep the noise level down or whatever…and the student advisor or resident advisor (i don’t know what they call them these days) didn’t bother to step in when there was an issue, then every person in every dorm room needs to taught the 101 of communal living. Ok, If you need to reach me directly, feel free to email me at: unjung_8@yahoo.com or call me at: 347-878-9450. In Solidarity, Un Jung
Regardless of gender or race, no one should be treated guilty without a chance to prove oneself innocent. Her story is more frustrating to hear because it happened in Mount Holyoke College, one of the most diverse and prestigious women’s college in the USA! As an Mount Holyoke Alumnae, I would’ve assumed that the campus police to be more respectful toward the moho student, but in reality, that wasn’t the case! There had to be an effort to understand her situation before sending her into the jail! This matter must be addressed seriously!
Yes, what’s next? We alums want to know what we can do.
Wow! This story was so frustrating to read. I’m a student at Wheaton College (MA) where we’ve had some issues with the way our Public Safety officers interact with students, especially with students of color. Thank you for writing this and sharing your story!!
Two friends decide to perform a prank highlighting what happens when a white man and a black man break into a car.
#enoughsaid
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/02/23/nr-car-prank-racism.cnn.html
Sounds like you should have just calmed down.