After University of Wisconsin Police Department’s arrest of 21-year-old Denzel McDonald, some faculty have become increasingly concerned about the academic and racial implications of the incident.
Hundreds of faculty members signed a letter April 14 denouncing UWPD’s handling of McDonald’s arrest, and some are concerned the event undermines the safety of the classroom. In response, Chancellor Rebecca Blank and UWPD issued statements Friday along with body camera footage of the arrest and subsequent interrogation.
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UWPD officers arrested McDonald around noon Thursday while he was attending class. Witness accounts conflict with the official UWPD narrative presented in an incident report and statement by UWPD Chief Susan Riseling released Friday.
In the letter signed by hundreds of faculty, staff and students, Karma Chavez, communication arts associate professor, denounced the arrest, demanding accountability from UW officials and seeking immunity from expulsion for McDonald. The letter also features quotes from professor Johanna Almiron, who was teaching McDonald at the time of his arrest.
“I cannot believe they humiliated and terrified my students,” Almiron said. “The fact that our classrooms are not respected as spaces of learning is absolutely appalling.”
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In a statement, Blank acknowledged UWPD did not follow protocol for when officers may enter classrooms. She said the policies governing these interactions will be reviewed following the incident.
UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott said campus police have access to all students’ schedules. While it is normal operating procedure for officers to not arrest students during class, he said this is not explicit UWPD policy.
Among faculty, there is a repeated theme of concern for how the arrest will affect the integrity of the classroom.
Hemant Shah, School of Journalism and Mass Communication director, said he has contacted the administration to better understand UW’s policing policy with regard to the classroom. He said the integrity of the classroom is vital for effective learning, and he intends to have his questions answered in a meeting with Riseling next week.
How much of an effect UW’s recently weakened tenure policies have had on the outpouring of faculty support for McDonald is difficult to gauge, Shah said.
“If there are faculty hesitant to speak out and the reason they give is that tenure has been weakened, they wouldn’t be wrong to believe that,” Shah said.
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Shawn Peters, integrated liberal studies lecturer, previously taught McDonald and said he has never seen a case where a student was arrested during class in his several decades in higher education. He said he understood the need for police to do their job, but was critical of the way UWPD went about the arrest. He said he believes McDonald’s race almost certainly played a role.
“I’m deeply disturbed by how events transpired Thursday,” Peters said. “It doesn’t reflect our core values to interrupt a classroom to arrest students accused of minor crimes.”
UW graduate student Anthony Hernandez said it is difficult to see the actions of the police as legitimate given their failure to combat incidences of racism. He said UW is an openly hostile campus for minority students and McDonald’s actions are an example of frustration with the status quo.
Hernandez said the racial climate at UW has become so toxic that drastic change is needed. The incremental steps the university has taken have not been sufficient in combating the issues.
“These students are having horrible experiences, and they persist,” Hernandez said. “There needs to be a fierce urgency addressing these critical matters. Another email from administration will not suffice.”
An earlier version of this article did not feature a response from UWPD. UW Communications did not respond to request for comment.
