Hannah Jones/Winonan

Winona State University enjoys a reputation as a small, safe school.

The local community is charming and close-knit, the historical downtown and natural landscape make a picturesque setting, and besides that, the statistics back up the claim; according to school records, Winona State has had absolutely no hate crimes in the past three years. That is the widely accepted truth.

However, sadly, things are not always as they appear.

For all of its quaint, small-town nuances, Winona isn’t an entirely innocent place, and Winona State has certainly not been without a hate crime for three years. Rather, there has not been a hate crime reported in three years. Until recently, it was believed that this lack of reports was indicative of a campus totally free of discrimination and race, gender, economic or culture-based intimidation. That was until Oct. 2, when a report was filed that told a very different story.

The individual who filed the report wished to divulge what happened on the night of Sept. 29, when she was walking after dark with a group of friends. According to the student’s account, two Caucasian males taunted and harassed her and her friends with racial slurs and threats, and even went as far as to bludgeon a male friend of hers repeatedly with an umbrella.

When most of the student’s friends made their way home and left her with a small group, the two males began to circle them and make intimidating references to the umbrella incident, seeking to frighten them or incite them to fight. A few of the student’s friends present were international students, who would risk being sent home if they responded to the violence in kind. There was nothing to do but to simply take the abuse and wait for help.

When a group of fifteen or so students came by, the student hoped that help had indeed arrived, but all but one of them did nothing. Fortunately, a patrol car happened to rove by at that time, and the student told the males harassing them that she would summon the authorities if they didn’t leave them alone. The males scoffed but sauntered away, saying, “Even if you went and got them, we would just tell them you all attacked us first.”

Three years, and an incident like this had never been reported. However, according to the student’s account, this is only the latest in a series of grievances that have occurred throughout her life and her career at Winona State. The student outlined her reasoning behind remaining silent for so long in four simple points:
“-‘It is useless to do anything about it.’
-‘We don’t have any pictures, and most likely the police won’t file anything.’
-The school will do nothing about it.
-We are too scared to speak out.”

Last year’s No Space Coalition tried to address this unspoken problem by petitioning for a Safe Space to be reserved on campus, a center where diverse students could exist without fear of harassment. This was a tall order in a university already pressed for club space, and perhaps a more elegant solution in theory than in practice—how can any space be made inherently “safe”?  But it was born out of a desperate need to be heard; to be recognized. The student involved in the Sept. 29 incident’s words were laden with the silent frustration of these oppressed groups: “Our cries to the Administration for justice and equality have fallen on deaf ears, simply because none of these instances of harassment have been officially recorded … Officially, our struggles do not exist.”

Winona State University is widely regarded as a safe, tolerant campus. Most of the time, that is true. But what we are missing between the lines, the violence, provocation, cruel language and outright hatred that occurs when our backs are turned, is more than enough to warrant a change. A brave few have spoken out. Now, it is our time to listen and to act. We need to work to make this school truly deserving of its peaceful reputation—even when no one else is watching.

Contact Hannah at [email protected]