Editorial: 6 Asian Students Were Attacked on Campus. Why Did NYU Take Weeks to Respond?
NYU’s response to attacks on Asian students on its campus has been extremely dismissive. The university must urgently address the safety concerns of Asian students.
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by WSN Editorial Board
This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.
In February, seven students were assaulted on NYU’s campus. At least four of them were likely assaulted by the same man. Of the four students he attacked initially, three were Asian. Why didn’t NYU respond sooner?
AJ Sun was one of these students, and when he attempted to make a report of this assault, NYU Campus Safety dismissed his concerns. In fact, NYU failed to report the series of assaults to the student body promptly, instead waiting until after the backlash that followed Sun’s Instagram posts.
“Any Asian student walking on campus is still in danger of random, sporadic and yet detrimental hate-infused attacks, and NYU has not taken any action to even warn its Asian students about the danger in the surrounding neighborhood,” Sun wrote in a Feb. 16 Instagram post about the incident. “NYU please protect your Asian students, as I don’t wish another Asian student to receive the same kind of harm I have received on campus once again.”
The news of NYU’s mishandling of these assaults follows the recent tragic killings of two Asian women in New York City, Michelle Go and Christina Yuna Lee, and the Feb. 22 death of GuiYing Ma after an attack in November. It also comes as a suspect was arrested on March 2 in connection with a similar string of anti-Asian assaults.
In light of recent racist attacks, Asian Americans across the city are demanding more comprehensive protective measures. While there are conflicting views on how to further protect Asian Americans from vicious hate crimes, one thing is clear: Change must be made.
Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.