by Hayley Feland
The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul is holding a workshop on “white accountability,” according to screenshots shared by the popular X (formerly Twitter) account Libs of TikTok.
“With privilege comes responsibility. What will you do with yours for the common good?” an event description says.
.@UofStThomasMN offers students a “white accountability workshop” where students meet with mental health counselors to discuss their “white privilege” and “white supremacy” and do “anti-racist work.”
They’re teaching white students that they’re somehow guilty for their skin… pic.twitter.com/bGIRwd0CCy
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 24, 2023
The workshop is held monthly and facilitated by a counselor who helps participants “explore white privilege, along with other layers and intersectionalities of privilege as [they] engage in anti-racist work.”
“This workshop has a focus on interactive discussion about how white supremacy affects us and others, individually and systemically, on a daily basis,” the event description explains.
The workshop is put on by the university’s Center for Well-Being and takes place virtually over Zoom. Sessions are set to take place on Nov. 30 and Dec. 14. One previously took place this semester on Oct. 24.
The event posting also explains that there is “FYE credit available.” First-Year Experience (FYE) is part of the university’s core curriculum for freshman students. Courses offered as part of FYE include “Emerging Scholars for Justice” and “Social Justice and Cultural Transformations for the Common Good.”
Following backlash, the university locked its X account and appeared to remove the webpage advertising the workshop. It has also limited Facebook comments.
Archived versions of the webpage date back to May 2022. “White Accountability Workshop is a monthly workshop in a counselor-facilitated brave space for students to explore how whiteness and racism show up in our daily lives and systems to affect our thoughts, feelings, relationships, health & wellbeing, community and much more,” a version from May 28, 2023 says.
“This optional workshop series, which began in 2020 and will continue, is one of many opportunities at the university for students who wish to explore how different life experiences impact our understanding of social issues and engagement in racial justice work,” the university told Alpha News in a statement after publication.
The university also came under fire earlier this year when it was reported that the school allows biological males to share living spaces with females.
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Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
Photo “University of St. Thomas Campus” by University of St. Thomas.
I appreciate that someone is finally making the connection between responsibility and privilege. Unfortunately, they have it backwards. Privilege comes from taking responsibility. Because one takes responsibility for one’s education, they have a better paying job. With that better paying job, one has more comfortable housing. Because one takes responsibility to communicate properly, they enjoy the benefits of proper communication. When one takes responsibility for one’s health, they have less sickness and are less likely to die from preventable illness.
If being middle class and having comfort and a bit of success is “too white” for you, then put on some sunglasses, because I am blazingly lily white. “Anti-racism” is just “the black version of racism.” It is racism in blackface.