Source: SCU Archives
Archival research was one of the most useful practices in constructing my researched argument. The items I found there influenced my entire essay and created support for my thesis. One source that I found was extremely interesting. It was entitled “Open forum exposes sexism, racism, and violence on campus”. In small text the front page indicated that this was a newspaper for Santa Clara University faculty and staff, so it can be assumed that the general public did not have access to it. Throughout the article there were accounts from students about being sexually assaulted, receiving racist and sexist jokes from faculty and generally feeling uncomfortable in the social climate of Santa Clara.
Source: Giphy
This document in particular really opened my eyes about the ways that SCU decides to deal with issues surrounding discrimination, and more specifically how the university decides to not deal with them. Eleanor Willemsen, who was the chair of the Psychology Department at the time recounted that the forum dealt with “old issues that have never been properly addressed. Individuals have tried to help students with specific situations, but there has been no top-down actions in the past.”3 The forum even discussed the fact that because no action was taken in the past, women began to silence themselves when they experienced sexual violence. Over and over again this forum proved that the university has refused to completely address the problems facing students.