Dear Evergreen Faculty,
During one of La Familia’s weekly club meetings in El Barrio last month, there was an incident where a faculty member exited his classroom multiple times commenting on the noise level of a Familia meeting in progress. We obliged after he exited the first time by ceasing all shouting and reducing our voices to a casual speaking level. He then came back out and complained about the noise level once again and recommended we relocate to the adjacent classroom in the space. Not even a few minutes later, he came back out and his tone reflected hostility and frustration as he reiterated that it was still too loud. He proceeded to tell the group to move to a different location. It was clear that he did not know that this was an official Familia meeting and not just a group of students mingling in the hallway.
What you should know as Evergreen faculty about El Barrio is that it is located in SEM2 E 3rd floor in the hallway and it is the designated club space for Familia. It is also the designated community space for Latine students on campus. We would like to preface that it isn’t our responsibility to inform or educate faculty of the use of spaces by students on campus. There is an excitement that comes with student groups and clubs forming again, using spaces on campus and taking up space, but to face this kind of treatment repeatedly from Evergreen Faculty members is discouraging.
Again it shouldn’t be our responsibility to inform faculty about these spaces, but you are now making it our responsibility. This is even more frustrating because Familia has been meeting in this location for as long as it has been around (years). There are also flyers in El Barrio with this information and let it be known, Familia is one of the longest standing and active groups for students of color on this campus. El Barrio is OUR safe space.
As you can imagine, having a faculty member telling a group of Latine students and their allies to “quiet down” in their own safe space was distressing. One of the more prominent stereotypes that Latine people and people of color in general face in an academic setting is being told we are too damn loud. El Barrio is a place for our communities to come together, experience joy, be loud, and take up space.
Before this program and faculty even showed up, our El Camino faculty were holding an important staff meeting in a classroom much closer to where we meet and didn’t complain about our noise level, not even once. After their meeting we were greeted with smiles and hellos from them expressing how happy they were to see us running our scheduled meeting, drinking café and eating pan de muerto together. This is because they understand how we express our joy in community and that is by being expressive and loud! If our dear El Camino faculty can have an hour long meeting adjacent to us running ours, you should too.
We understand that this faculty member probably didn’t know this. However, the result of that was both groups becoming frustrated. So, we would like to clearly inform all faculty that La Familia meets on Wednesday evenings from 4:30-6:30pm in El Barrio (SEM 2 E 3rd floor) and if they would like to have a class free from hearing laughter and shouting from the other side of the door, please close all classroom doors, not just one and then complain like Tim Quit and/or schedule seminars in a different location.
THANK YOU
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Rec flow:
About El Barrio… a description of it might b nice: what’s it look like, what it represents, why it’s important/ needing support for Latin community, how its used as a community space→ it IS the designated club meeting space for Familia!
What the interaction was, how it related to that safe space dynamic
If it feels comfortable or authentic to what you’re asking, reaching a conclusion that says that you are happy to negotiate volume in a shared building, open to that conversation vs the authoritative way you’ve been approached. Yet, be firm that you challenge the notion of pure “disruption” — it might be good to express that you want to make sure people are learning and can focus, but why is it that your noise is perceived as unproductive? When people hear that laughter and shouting, it exists as a challenge to culture/community that is often suppressed.
You’re asking readers to challenge the notion of professionalism and delinquency that is charged by stereotypes.
You will have to find a way to exist in the SEM building together— with this space preserved/your joy preserved/ your community preserved, AND with people’s ability to be present during their class times. These things can coexist, as you show with the El Camino faculty meeting. It is unreasonable to pressure you all to leave or make it so that you cannot use your own community space, that is not what sharing looks like. There is also understandably some level of noise that is distracting, and you are not unwilling to accommodate– you’re just asking that they extend the same grace to you, because you have just as much of a right to be there.
EDITED VERSION
Beef in El Barrio; A notice from Familia
Dear Evergreen students, faculty, and staff,
As members of Familia, we’d like to share and inform people of the space that is known as El Barrio, located in Sem II E 3rd floor at the end of the hallway. El Barrio takes up the corner space by the back stairwell of the wing and has a window that oversees the Evergreen State College sign, the Welcome Woman, and if you sit close enough, you can catch a glimpse of the field and Red Square. El Barrio was created by El Camino Faculty to be a space that Latine students can lounge in, hang out, and be in community. The space includes a couch, a couple tables and chairs, and a large chalkboard populated by doodles and phrases. It includes a rather large bookshelf with a variety of books that have been accumulating over the years and an altar surrounded by Latine art including La Familia flyers. The space has a collection of zines made up of El Camino Pathway’s past programs and students’ personal zines. There is a microwave, a fridge and a tea/coffee station set up for students and faculty as well.
This space serves as a reminder to not just us, but to the wider college community that Latine students and faculty belong here and that we are here. El Barrio translated directly to English means The Neighborhood, but as we understand it in Spanish, it’s more than just that. It’s a community that supports each other, that works together and has fun together. That’s why when bringing back Familia, El Barrio was the perfect place to meet. It is the designated club meeting space for Familia since it started again in Fall of 2022. It’s our space to enjoy ourselves and invite students to join us in that joy, laughter, and community. Let it be known, Familia is one of two active groups for students of color on this campus, and the longest standing one. Let that sink in. El Barrio is OUR safe space.
During one of La Familia’s weekly club meetings in El Barrio last month, there was an incident with faculty ‘Tim Quit’ (iykyk) in a nearby classroom where he exited multiple times to comment on the noise level of the Familia meeting in progress. To be clear and forward these comments and actions happened before the scheduled meeting time for this class. After coming out the first time and asking in a polite manner, we obliged and ceased all shouting and reduced our voices to a casual speaking level. He then came back out and complained about our noise level once again and recommended we relocate to the adjacent classroom in the space. Not even a few minutes later, he came back out and his tone reflected hostility and frustration as he reiterated that it was still too loud and proceeded to tell the group to move to a different location. It was clear that he did not know that this was an official Familia meeting and not just a group of students mingling in the hallway. As the group was made up of students of color and allies, being approached by this white teacher was intimidating and belittling as we were meeting, conversing, and planning amongst ourselves. It’s discouraging to have to face this type of treatment and interact with someone who feels entitled to the space outside of the classroom without so much of a conversation or question as to who we were and what we were doing in this space, regardless of if it were a meeting or not.
We would like to preface that it isn’t our responsibility to inform or educate faculty of the use of spaces by students on campus. There is an excitement that comes with student groups and clubs forming again, using spaces on campus, and taking up space, but to face this kind of treatment repeatedly from Evergreen Faculty members is discouraging. Again, it shouldn’t be our responsibility to inform faculty about these spaces, but you are now making it our responsibility. El Barrio is a place for our communities to come together, experience joy, be loud, and take up space.
As previously mentioned, we obliged to his concerns when asked politely to quiet down. We understand that we share a space with others in the building and are willing to communicate and reach a conclusion if we are approached in a manner that is respectful rather than in the authoritative way we were approached in the aforementioned incident. A prominent stereotype that is associated with Latine and other people of color in an academic setting is that of being too loud. Loud and unproductive. We are here to challenge the notion that academics and professionalism equates to being complacent and quiet. We are loud and get shit done. This goes beyond just a meeting and an incident – it’s suppression of a community and culture, Familia exists as an active defiance against assimilation in a predominantly white institution.
As our community continues to grow we understand that we will find new ways to exist in the Sem building together and as we do so, we will preserve our joy, our community, and our space to do these things in. We can and have coexisted with others in these spaces. Before the unpleasant interaction, our El Camino faculty were holding an important staff meeting in a classroom much closer to where we meet and didn’t complain about our noise level, not even once. After their meeting we were greeted with smiles and hellos from them expressing how happy they were to see us running our scheduled meeting, drinking café, and eating pan de muerto together. This is because they understand how we express our joy in community and that is by being expressive and loud! If our dear El Camino faculty can have an hour long meeting adjacent to us running ours, you should too. It is unreasonable to intimidate or pressure us as Familia, or anyone else who uses this space, to leave. Sharing space goes both ways. We are not unwilling to accommodate but are asking that others extend the same grace to us. We have just as much right to be there. We understand that this faculty member probably didn’t know of our scheduled meeting. However, the result of this lack of awareness was both groups becoming frustrated.
So, we would like to clearly inform all faculty and community that La Familia meets on Wednesday evenings from 4:30-6:30pm in El Barrio (SEM 2 E 3rd floor).
THANK YOU
