A national rise in anti-Asian hate crimes hit close to home as the American University community learned a graduate student, Patrick Trebat, was charged with the assault of a gay Asian man and his parents. The revelation that a student at AU was charged with something that makes specific communities on campus feel deeply unsafe, coupled with the fact that the D.C. Superior Court decided it was reasonable to allow him to take in-person classes, is unsettling to say the least.
The University isn’t to blame for the attack on the family and it’s commendable that the University recently took action to remove Trebat as a student. What the University needs to remember, however, is that AU is home for students. Students live, study and learn at AU. Threats to the safety of this environment are devastating.
The University has commitments to each students’ privacy, but it also has a commitment to the safety and well-being of the AU community as a whole. Regardless of the status of any legal proceedings, the University could have taken actions on its own to evaluate Trebat’s. The University has no control over the thoughts and actions of people affiliated with it, but it can take steps on its own to create the environment it wants. Above all, the University should be as transparent and empathetic as possible. Despite legal protocol, it is essential to validate the concerns and fears of the groups affected by this situation. AU’s Asian American Student Association (AASU) or any other student organization should not be responsible for hosting healing spaces; the University should reach out to these communities and support them.
As members of the campus which the court’s decisions affect, it is difficult for the Eagle Editorial Board to understand the reasoning behind extending the accused’s curfew and allowing him on campus. The student was charged with a crime that was motivated by the victims’ identity. AU has a sizable Asian population and LGBTQ+ population. What is the justification for allowing someone accused of crimes against members of those communities on a campus where Asian and LGBTQ+ people exist? How could the court not think his presence would make people feel threatened and scared? As we have all learned, it is possible to continue an education online and remotely.
In Eagle reporting, Erin Enriques, a co-president of AASU, said that the University has not protected their students and faculty of color. The University needs to do better. It cannot claim to be an inclusive community and lead tours touting the diversity on campus while ignoring the pains groups on campus feel when something like this happens. When members of a community have significant reason to fear for their safety, the institution that houses, employs and educates them should, at the very least, protect them. They deserve to feel safe.
