George Buch,
As a math professor and former mathematics graduate student, you understand that "2" is an important number. Without the number 2, there would be no positive or negative, and we could not be able to decipher if a number were even or odd. The number 2 is also of great significance to UNLV because of our diversity ranking in the U.S. News & World’s annual listing of most diverse universities for undergraduates. If you didn’t know, we are currently ranked as the second most diverse University in the Nation. Yes, that is correct; more than half of all of all undergraduate students at UNLV are part of a racial or ethnic minority – documented or otherwise.
Being part of an ethnic minority, I felt that I could come to UNLV to experience what it was like to be surrounded by vast and varied cultures – and I know I am not alone in the search for diversity. But it is hard when there are people like you who threaten the livelihood of students who do no harm to you, or anyone else.
My first point is this: I am personally disgusted by your desire to uproot a student’s life because of your biases and bigotry. There may not be “safe spaces” in your classroom, but we as an educational community have failed by making you feel like you have a safe space to spew your discriminatory hate speech. I will tell you right now what my peers have apparently failed to let you know; your hate has no place at UNLV. You are a math professor with no special knowledge of international relations, foreign policies or immigration policy. What right do you have to say that a student can or cannot study in my institution? I say “my institution” specifically, because what you have said does not represent the University of Las Vegas, Nevada in any way.
Secondly, you are fighting fire with fire. You think that you are doing a great service to UNLV and the country by “turning in undocumented students to ICE” so that, I assume your justification for it is, terrorism is lessened in the US, but you are not reaching anywhere near your goal. You are spreading hate; contrary to what any of the students you are threatening to deport are doing. You are the problem. You are spreading terror. These United States were made up of immigrants from the very beginning, and as long as people are migrating to the U.S. peacefully, then the likes of you and people who think in a similar way to you are the ones who are making a negative difference in the country.
The most terrifying thing about what you have said is not that you said it, but rather, that people agree with your comments. Matt Peskin, president of UNLV’s spirit squad, “The Rebellion” has made comments on the matter as well. The scary thing is that he feels that it is okay to publicly agree with the hate you have shown – that so much of the white student body of our campus has not realized that we have to come together to fix the hate and bias against people of color that is prominently shown in the country. People I know have laughed about your comments in my own dorm, and it has taken every ounce of my self-control to not kick them out, but rather help them relearn that it is not okay to discriminate against any race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or religion.
You do not define my university. You and the minority of racist peoples on the UNLV campus do not define UNLV, and your hate, xenophobia and blatant racism have no place at this school. You have broken the rules of the institution. Rules set by UNLV to ensure that my university is a safe place for all students seeking education, growth, and tolerance. This is not a matter that you can brush off as a “joke,” and your rank on “Rate My Professor” does not account for your character, the very public, very disparaging remarks you made this week, and the hurt that was born from your comments.
I cannot imagine that UNLV would ever intend on allowing you to remain at our University. As a student of color, I feel that I am threatened and unsafe about having an openly xenophobic faculty member in a learning environment which is supposed to be safe for its diverse student populous.
In the words of my brother, you are putting in danger the livelihood of “someone who has committed no crime and wants only to exist in a place in which they can grow.”
Sincerely,
Merissa-Elise McFarland
Polynesian Undergraduate Student at UNLV
