Abstract
Black college men encounter several challenges navigating historically White campus environments. Within these spaces, Black college men are often stereotyped, misunderstood, and treated as a homogenous group, which has implications for how they experience the campus. In this scenario, we present Tevon Baloch, a first-year, Black, man, bisexual, Muslim, first-generation student who was “outed” in his residence hall on a resident assistant (RA) bulletin board. This scenario challenges educators to think critically about the intersection of identities among college students.
Keywords: Religion, sexuality, masculinity, mental health, Black
Primary Characters
Tevon Baloch (he, him, his) is a first year, first-generation, bisexual, Muslim, African American man majoring in Journalism and resides in Avery Hall. He comes from an upper middle-class family and grew up in the Northeast. Despite valuing family, he was excited to attend college far away from home. Tevon has not disclosed his sexual orientation to family members and prefers to only discuss it with close friends.
Robert Cavanaugh (he, him, his) is a first-year political science major and Tevon Baloch’s roommate in Avery Hall. He identifies as a White man and serves as treasurer for the College Republican student organization. He is a proponent of anti-LGBTQ laws. He is currently completing an internship with a Republican congressman where they just drafted legislation to eliminate the ability of local governments to protect LGBTQ residents.
Toni Foster (she, her, hers) is a third year Residence Life Coordinator (RLC) and supervises Sheila Lopresti and David McGuire in Avery Hall, a 400-bed mixed gender first-year hall. She is well respected by her students and colleagues and is committed to creating inclusive and equitable environments on the campus. Toni identifies as a queer Black woman.
Sheila Lopresti (she, her, hers) is a junior majoring in African American studies and a second year RA in Avery Hall. Sheila identifies as a White Christian woman and is a member of SU’s honors college. She recently joined a historically Black sorority and is engaged to the quarterback of SU’s football team who identifies as an African American man.
David McGuire (he, him, his) is a senior majoring in journalism and a third year RA in Avery Hall. He identities as a White gay man and is from a large urban area in the Northeast and has struggled living in Rustville. David is an active member of the Confetti student organization and strives to create better environments for LGBTQ identified students.
Cara Porter (she, her, hers) is a first-year resident in Avery Hall majoring in journalism. She identifies as biracial and is a Rustville native. She recently joined the College Republican group on campus and is currently dating Robert Cavanaugh.
Context and Case
Smithfield University (SU) is a medium-sized, public, liberal arts institution nestled in Rustville, a rural town in the South. SU is known for their nationally ranked journalism program and prides itself on having a diverse student body. SU’s overall student enrollment is 8,000 students with approximately 3,000 residing on-campus. Sixty-five percent of SU students identify as women and 42% identify as men. 60% of SU students are White, 22% are African American, 8% are Latinx, 4% are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 4% are multiracial. 50% of the students are from the home state, 25% are from the Northeast, 13% are from the Midwest, 7% are from the West coast, and 5% are from other countries. Highly visible student organizations at SU include the Black Student Union, College Republicans, Confetti (an LGBTQ student organization), and the Residence Hall Association.
Recent political tensions have escalated into violence and civil unrest in Rustville over the past few months. There have been several documented incidents against Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, and LGBTQ-identified individuals. Furthermore, SU’s College Republicans have been very active in collaborating with state representatives on anti-LGBTQ legislation. Most recently, the state’s legislature passed an unprecedented bill stripping the rights and protections of LGBTQ identified individuals in the workplace. There has also been an increase in campus political programs from the Residence Hall Association in response to the abovementioned incidents against marginalized populations both at SU and in the broader Rustville community.
Robert Cavanaugh enters Toni Foster’s office on Friday morning visibly upset and has requested a move from Avery Hall to another building on campus. Of note, the RAs on duty in Avery Hall, Sheila Lopresti and David McGuire, completed an incident log but Toni Foster had not reviewed it prior to Robert Cavanaugh’s arrival. During their rounds, David discussed his excitement in seeing how Confetti grew under his leadership this year and wanted Sheila to see his new floor LGBTQ awareness bulletin board that he completed for National Coming Out Day. Sheila walked ahead of David and began looking at his board. With a confused look on her face, Sheila asked David if he intended for residents to write their names on the board in an act of “coming out.” David quickly looked at his bulletin board and yelled out, “What the F%@#! OMG!” A few residents stepped out in the hallway to see what was going on, and Cara Porter jumped on social media to record David yelling, because she thought it was hilarious hearing David so upset.
David’s bulletin board was vandalized with derogatory images, pejorative words, and names of Smithfield University (SU) students under the words, “coming out.” The names written on the bulletin board included some Confetti members, student athletes, professors, and residents from David’s floor. David continued expressing his outrage about the bulletin board and told Sheila that he did not care that his name was on the bulletin board because he was proud to be openly gay.
Sheila expressed her sentiments about how ignorant it was for someone to do this and stated, “Besides not all of these students are gay anyway.” David challenged Sheila about her comment and encouraged her to consider the varied ways individuals express their sexuality. Sheila then read the names on the bulletin board and stated, “Well how do you know they are gay? I mean those athletes and Black guys like Tevon Baloch can’t be gay. Tevon is Muslim too. He can’t be gay.” David smirked at Sheila and began “outing” members who were on the board. During this exchange with Sheila, David exclaimed, “I know for sure that Tevon is gay. I saw him at The Rain (LGBTQ nightclub a few blocks from the campus) the other night.”
Sheila and David were unaware of Cara recording their conversation in front of the bulletin board. Cara uploaded the video to social media and the incident had over 1,500 views within the first hour. Robert, Tevon’s roommate, saw the video as he was leaving a College Republicans board meeting where they were advocating for and discussing anti-LGBTQ laws.
Later that night as Tevon arrived back to his residence hall room, Robert, asked Tevon if he had seen the bulletin board and/or social media. After learning what had occurred, Tevon was visibly angry and told Robert that he wasn’t gay and people were just being stupid. Robert said, “Man that is so messed up. People gotta know you ain’t gay. I mean a Black gay Muslim, that’ll be something.”
Tevon got quiet and considered if this would be the time to tell Robert that he was in fact bisexual. Tevon never felt comfortable disclosing his sexuality to Robert as he oftentimes made derogatory comments about LGBTQ students in Tevon’s presence, and Robert loved talking about his new internship. Tevon said, “Well, why would that be an issue Robert? You think Black men or Muslims can’t be gay?” Robert looked oddly at Tevon and there was an awkward silence. Tevon left the room and told Robert that he was going to get some air and would be back later.
Tevon left his residence hall room and posted on social media that he did not want to be a disappointment anymore to Allah and his family. Tevon’s family members saw the social media post late Thursday night and reached out to him via telephone and text. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Tevon, Tevon’s mother called campus police early Friday morning, as she believed her son was in distress and could possibly harm himself. In the course of their welfare check, campus police informed Robert to contact them if Tevon returned to the room.
Tevon returned to the room early Friday morning and Robert contacted campus police. Tevon admitted to Robert that he contemplated suicide but ultimately decided against it. In that conversation, he opened up to Robert about being bisexual and Muslim and how he thought his parents would disown him because of his sexuality. Robert did not respond to Tevon and left the room to head to Toni’s office.
Not knowing what to do after disclosing this information, Tevon emailed Toni to request a meeting and indicated that he needed help. The Dean of Students also received an email from the executive board members of Confetti wanting a full scale investigation of who wrote the names on the bulletin board and the specific actions that would be taken against the RAs in Avery Hall who “outed” members of the LGBTQ community on the video. In the same email, Confetti demanded immediate answers and threatened to contact the local press if their concerns were ignored.
Discussion Questions
- If you were Toni Foster, how would you handle Tevon Baloch’s meeting request and Robert Kavanaugh’s room change request?
- If you were the Dean of Students, how would you approach Confetti’s request to take action against the RAs?
- Cara Porter recorded and uploaded a video conversation between Sheila Lopresti and David McGuire. Is this an example of free speech or should Cara be held accountable through the university code of conduct for her actions?
- What are relevant theories that could inform your decision making in this case?
Author Bios
Brian L. McGowan, Ph.D. (he, him, his) is an Associate Professor of Education and Associate Director of the Center for Teaching, Research & Learning at American University. Brian’s research is driven by questions related to Black men’s and faculty of color experiences in higher education. His work also explores teaching and learning and the ways that race and racism have shaped the experiences of students and faculty of color in the college classroom. He has worked in housing and residence life at multiple institutions as a faculty in residence, area coordinator, hall director, and resident assistant.
Coretta R. Walker, Ph.D. (she, her, her) is a Project Manager for Ready for School, Ready for Life. She formerly served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives & Parent Programs in the Division for Student Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her professional and scholarly interests include Black women senior-level administrators, first generation college students, spirituality, and students of color.
Erica E. Estep (she, her, hers) is the Child Hunger Programs Manager for Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. She previously served as the Associate Director of Residential Life at North Carolina Central University. Her research interests focus on college students’ spirituality, degree persistence, and African American women.