This past week, it was revealed a bus driver was responsible for posting insensitive fliers on the Blue and Silver Line buses.
These fliers, posted two weeks prior, were titled “Bus Rider Etiquette.” They listed a set of bus riding rules in two languages: English and Chinese.
According to an email to the community by Holly Crawford, senior vice president for administration and finance, the driver worked “for a company that the University contracts with for shuttle services, and is not a University employee.”
“This driver has been removed from all University bus routes,” Crawford said. “This incident and any action that causes students, faculty and staff here to feel singled out or excluded in their own community is not acceptable.”
Following the discovery of the fliers, students, faculty and staff were outraged.
Many students expressed their disappointment via Facebook, pointing out how the fliers only targeted the Chinese community on campus. On top of this, many students voiced that the fliers were poorly translated into Chinese.
James Chodak, director of transportation and parking, sent out a campus-wide email explaining the situation right after it occurred.
“The Department of Transportation and Parking Management did not create or post these signs, nor did the department authorize anyone to do so,” Chodak said. “The posters and specifically calling out one language is insensitive and not part of our culture of respect and inclusion at the University of Rochester.”
Additionally, a few days after the incident, students received an email from the deans of students, diversity, college, and graduate studies.
The deans apologized for the harmful message the fliers carried and said that the posters do not reflect what the University stands for. They ensured the community the incident is not reflective of what the University stands for and believes.
