Students share disappointment in OU's diversity efforts with #yOUrbad

Hundreds of tweets containing #yOUrbad have stormed Twitter over the past few days, and two university administrators, including OU President David Boren, did not address the hashtag directly when asked to comment on it. 

The hashtag's creator, management information systems senior Emily Pham, said she wanted to create a platform for students to share their personal experiences, beliefs and opinions about OU.

"I know, as a woman of color, how easy it is to have your voice silenced or ignored, and with campus life, it can be really difficult to voice your concerns and opinions and experiences and really have attention brought to them, whether that’s from the university or from the people around you," she said.

The hashtag was created just days after OU was given an award for its efforts to promote diversity and inclusion on campus. Many Twitter users were upset about the award, and Pham was not pleased either.

"I think (Boren) is only pleased to be recognized for a goal that the university has yet to attain," she said. "If it’s a goal that you don’t follow through on and you don’t commit your efforts to building an inclusive experience for people of color, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA and other groups at OU, then your diversity numbers are worth nothing."

OU press secretary Corbin Wallace told The Daily Sept. 1 that the freshman class of 2020 is also the most racially diverse freshman class in the university's history. 

Additionally, Boren sent a 14-word statement to The Daily when it asked him to comment on #yOUrbad. 

"The university remains committed to making inclusion and diversity one of its greatest strengths," the statement said.

Pham was not pleased with Boren's statement.

"He could have just (mentioned me on Twitter)," she said. "He could have said that within the character limit for Twitter. I could not believe it."

Vice President for the University Community Jabar Shumate also sent a statement to The Daily regarding the Twitter hashtag, but he did not directly address it or the students using it. 

"The goal of the university and the Office of University Community has always been, and will continue to be, to create a welcoming environment for everyone," Shumate's statement said. "The university acknowledges and understands that addressing this societal challenge will be an ongoing process. We continue to try to make strides toward a more caring and accepting community. We realize that this requires ongoing commitment from all in our community. It requires an effort by everyone to make a positive and constructive contribution to the effort."

Pham said she thought one of the biggest issues raised by the tweets she witnessed was the need for a university bias incident reporting system. Shumate told The Daily in March that OU partnered with Greenwood Hall, a technology company, to implement such a hotline. He also said the hotline would be installed by the end of that month. However, such a hotline is not in place.

"If there is a bias incident reporting system put in place at the university, maybe students would feel like OU was actually committing to its goal and actually following through and creating an opportunity for its students to raise their voices — or at least to share their experiences at OU," Pham said.

The hashtag has received some backlash on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and Pham said discouragement toward using the hashtag only perpetuates the issues those using it are facing. 

"When people discourage people using the hashtag, that means they’re not supportive of students voicing their experiences that have happened at the university," she said. "No one is making this up. These are true experiences. These are people’s lives that are being shared. These are real moments that come from real students’ lives at the university."

Stephen Ellis, a professor in the OU philosophy department, responded to a Facebook heckler who commented in response to a Daily Facebook post. He told The Daily he needed to speak his mind after seeing the heckler's words.

"I’m always surprised with how strong some people want to take the 'just-suck-it-up-and-live-with-it' kind of view," he said. "Since I have very strong interests in making OU a better place for all kinds of people, I figured I’d say my piece."

Pham said she hopes people take the time to be empathetic toward the students tweeting #yOurbad.

"There are some people who would not be able to understand or who have not experienced what many people have experienced," she said. "It’s difficult, and you cannot have the same experience as somebody that is, for example, a person of color or a person who is LGBTQIA, if you don’t fit those identities."

"Diversity is nothing without inclusion," she said. "In the university's policies, I don’t see, and I’m sure other people don’t see, any sort of system measuring or gauging the impact of the so-called inclusivity efforts for OU."