Addressing Potential Concerns of Xenophobia at FSU as a Result of the COVID-19 Outbreak

In the last week, COVID-19 has been publicly referred to as the “Chinese Flu” and “Kung Flu.” Upon naming COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) referenced guidelines that were issued in 2015. These guidelines called for the prevention of naming human infectious diseases based on particular articles like geographic location, an individual’s name, and species of animals in efforts to reduce and eliminate unwarranted fear.

On March 5, 2020, the Center for International Education (CIE) was contacted to determine if there were any reports from Asian and Chinese students of feelings of isolation or prejudice. Liz Medcalf, Director of Communications at Frostburg spoke on behalf of CIE, stated that the “staff at the Center for International Education has not had any report from the students they oversee of instances of isolation or prejudice regarding the outbreak. The CIE staff are checking in with them fairly regularly, just to make sure they are okay, especially in case they have worries about their families back home.”

When contacted again on March 12th, Ms. Medcalf responded that that there “still are not reports to the CIE or student affairs staff from our Asian international students or Asian American students about experiencing prejudice or feeling isolated as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.”

As of March 12th, Chinese student, Raine Li (who is also known as Tong) and an Asian Professor at FSU, who preferred not to be named, both expressed that they had not experienced any anti-Asian rhetoric on or outside of FSU campus. Raine noted that her friends, located in Seattle, experience has not been the same, while the FSU professor emphasized that this just has been his personal experience.

When asked, in her opinion, what could be done to either prevent or decrease xenophobia of Asian students and faculty at FSU, Raine responded that people have “to think in a different way… the disease is already coming. How can we face this? How can we solve the problem?” Raine also shared that there should be a distinction between the first case of COVID-19 being diagnosed in China and a person identifying as Chinese.

If any student were to experience any racial discrimination at FSU, Interim Dean of Student Affairs, Carl Crowe, stated that a student could make a report online. A student could also come into Student Affairs to meet with him or the Director of the Center for Student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Mrs. Robin Wynder.