As tens of thousands of students flooded college and university campuses across the state for the first day of the new school year, many had yet to reckon with the new reality of college living. Aside from the high cost of living, there is one university making headlines after putting off-limits to white students in certain dorms.
A taxpayer-funded University of Nevada, Reno is under fire after claims that it has designated certain “identity-based” dorm rooms off limits to whites “for the safety of student participants.”
It was alleged that the University (UNR) does not permit white students to live with African-American, Native American, and Latino classmates at a campus dormitory, according to the Young America’s Foundation (YAF).
Dean Kennedy, executive director of residential life, housing and food services, told a conservative youth organization that students must match the “identity” of the identity-based LLC they want to live in. This is for “the safety of student participants,” he said.
Now, the public university provided a statement disavowing Kennedy’s statement.
“Our Executive Director of Residential Life, Housing and Food Services Dean Kennedy misspoke in giving his statement,” the school said. “These LLCs provide a sense of community and belonging, especially at research-intensive institutions. The University of Nevada, Reno’s 15 LLCs are open to any and all students living on campus.”
The university statement did not further explain why Kennedy raised safety in his earlier message.
YAF raised concerns that the university was creating “segregated dorm communities” with the identity-based LLCs. The concerns were raised by a student, who was not applying to live in one of them but was “offput by the school separating students into racial groups,” a YAF spokesperson said.
The conservative group followed up with the university to clarify the “vague entry requirements” for the black, indigenous and “Latinx” LLCs. (Latinx, the gender-neutral version of “Latino,” is popular in academia but not among Hispanics, polling shows.)
“Living Learning Communities welcome all students to apply as almost every college/school has a community encompassing the majors within that college/school,” Kennedy wrote back to YAF.
“Because there is an academic component, students must be eligible to be enrolled in the course(s) connected with each community; and there are several communities for which any student of any major can apply,” his message to YAF stated.
But “it is important only students who hold that identity are considered” for the black, indigenous, and Latinx options, Kennedy added, citing the safety of each LLC’s participants.
The LLC page touts the higher GPA, retention rate, and “greater sense of belonging” associated with students who live in these communities with “shared academic, social, and cultural interests.” They live on the same floor and take some classes together.
Some of the LLCs are reserved for various academic departments within the university. One each is for “LGBTQUIA+ culture and community” and women in science and engineering. Three are based on race or ethnicity, all sharing one residence hall.
While those three imply they are open to “all students,” the black and indigenous LLCs each say participants will explore “their” identity or culture, implying they are reserved for black and indigenous applicants.
A university spokesperson provided a statement calling YAF’s headline “inaccurate” for claiming that “white students” were banned from these “minority-dorm communities.”
Asked to explain the wording of the black and indigenous LLCs, which mention “their” culture and identity, and what Kennedy meant by protecting the “safety” of participants, the spokesperson said the university’s statement answered both questions.
The university “walking that back as ‘we misspoke’ is clearly an indication of guilt and they know what they’re doing is illegal,” a spokesperson for the National Association of Scholars said. “It’s a fact of life currently that schools are segregating students by race” in various ways.
Sources: AWM, Young America’s Foundation
