Open Listening Session with Dr. Nowaczyk

Wednesday afternoon, Frostburg State University students were allowed to meet face to face with the school president, Ronald Nowaczyk. This listening session was intended to be a place where students could bring any concerns they might have and allow them to get feedback in real-time. This meeting was held in the Atkinson room, and everyone, including the president, sat in standard chairs all on the same level.

To kick off the meeting, a student brought up their concerns about troubles they were having with a professor in their class. Dr. Nowaczyk listened and addressed the students’ concerns and explained exactly where the student could go for further assistance. The next student spoke up and changed the topic regarding a more recent concern that had arisen during a virtual coffee with the president meeting. The student pointed out that during this meeting, the president responded to the question of whether or not he thinks FSU is racist. The student goes on to point out that in their opinion, the administration cannot answer that question as they are not the ones that live through it, and experience it firsthand. The student also noted that if anyone gets to decide whether or not the school is racist, it is the students themselves.

This same student goes on to address more of their concerns from the virtual coffee, stating that Dr. Nowaczyk’s words regarding student reactions to recent events are of high emotions does not help the student body, but rather invalidates the way they are feeling due to certain events that have recently occurred. During the meeting, this topic seemed to be the overall theme as concerns were expressed considering recent events regarding racist social media posts and cyber harassment towards our SGA president, Ariyana Ward.

As this carries on, another student expresses how they feel regarding the university’s views. In his own words, “I do not feel that Frostburg State University is racist.” He said that he has never experienced harassment on campus as a person of color but does feel that there are racist people who attend as well as work at FSU.

The president listens to each of these students that spoke up and made it a point to allow each of them to fully say what they wanted to say before responding. Regarding the specific case of harassment on social media, the president states that freedom of speech prevents administrative action until a student feels threatened.

This brings up the larger issue at hand of who gets to determine when a student is threatened? What occurs if a student feels unsafe? The president responds that police action occurs and that he is confident they will follow the correct policies and procedures to keep our campus safe. He says that the university has a way of counteracting situations like this to include condemning the actions when they occur, as well as providing students easy access to report things they feel need to be reported. However, as far as social media goes, there is a gray area. The president admits that there is just too much out there and a lot of the time administration does not see these posts due to the amount of content out there. He even said that this face-to-face meeting felt a lot more productive than his virtual coffees, and many students agreed.

As the discussion of social media troubles continued, a student in their junior year suggested that we implement social media monitoring. Dr. Nowaczyk said that anonymity would make that difficult, but did point out that he believes social media is unhealthy and the lack of control, when it comes to social media platforms, is frightening. He stated that “Social media has changed the communication process.” When asked if there are currently any policies in place regarding social media use in the Student Code of Conduct, Nowaczyk stated that he is unsure, however most likely not due to the first amendment.

A Residence assistant brings up that this is not the same case in their student position contract.

They said it states that they are unable to report negative things against the university and often have to decline for comment when it comes to reporting events that take place on campus. The president assures this student that he will investigate this and was unaware of it.

As this discussion continues, students keep asking questions about the individual who was found to be behind the hateful accounts harassing the SGA president. Will they be banned from campus and campus events? Will they still be allowed to participate in organizations? There were many concerned that this person was not a current student of the university but still a very involved person on our campus. The president responds that in a general sense it takes a lot to ban a student from campus and since the first amendment plays a huge role in this case, it is still hard to say what action will be taken, and whether or not he can state what action will be taken against this person due to personnel issues and privacy policies.

This brought up many points from students, including “The school itself may not be racist but there are people within it, students and staff, who are, and as seen in recent events there are those in the community who are racist as well. Students, at the end of the day just want to see accountability and actions against these people when issues arise before any protest by students has to occur.” This references the debate on whether or not hate speech is protected by the first amendment.

Students determined that it is protected, however, the first amendment does not protect those who spew hate speech from consequences. Another student brings up that all students want to see in action and policies against hate speech. They stated that students want full transparency and to see a written policy about the procedures the school takes.

Concerning the ongoing issue of online harassment, the students state that they want action taken now. The BSA president said that while they have experienced racism and harassment themselves, they are constantly being told by the admin to not engage and to ignore it and say that it is tiring.

Nowaczyk states that he has not yet seen the evidence and is waiting for the police to finish their investigation and disclose the details to him. He states that he is committed to keeping students safe and any issues that concern student safety are promptly addressed based on protocols in the police department. He reminds students that while he is the president of the university, he still is a part of a team when it comes to determining a lot of things regarding FSU and its students. However, the president admits that the administration can always be better and will work on letting students know when action has been taken. He states that he will try to figure out exactly how much he can “let out” when it comes to certain situations.

This led to the discussion of what Ronald Nowaczyk is currently doing to show that he is invested in the students that attend FSU. He says he makes the effort to visit residence halls, walk across campus, interact with students, attend student events and meetings that he is invited to, and is always open to doing things. He asked those in attendance what their suggestions are when it comes to how he can be more involved. A student immediately speaks up and says that he should attend SGA meetings, BSA meetings, and more. The president states that he is more than willing to attend but only with a clear invitation.

This student goes on to publicly announce that he is invited to all future meetings of SGA and BSA. The BSA president, who was in attendance stated that he is more than welcome to attend their meetings but only if he goes intending to listen and understand to make real improvements and not just attend to show face and say that he went.

While there was a lot that went on in that meeting, the main points were the same. Students want to see real change when it comes to diversity and inclusion on campus, they want to see consequences and actions taken when necessary, so that they may feel safe, and they want the administration to be more involved with students so that there is a stronger connection and understanding rather than a constant power struggle.

Regarding this listening session, Nowaczyk says, “I appreciate the honesty in feelings expressed and the suggestions on steps that would help move the campus forward.  The need for better understanding and execution of FSU policies regarding our commitment to civility and values of inclusion, along with the request to meet face-to-face with student organizations and community organizations like the NAACP were two important takeaways. I am committed to more listening sessions to hear the voices of our campus community.”