Student members of the Asian American Alliance at the State University of New York at Albany (UAlbany) are requesting the university take action after students hosted a coronavirus-themed party, according to KVOA.com.
The video, posted on Instagram by @barstoolalbany, displays a cooler full of Corona Extra beer, with a shot of a white T-shirt with a coronavirus design and a person wearing a blue surgical mask. It accumulated more than 11,000 views, with the caption “Corona Virus isn’t gonna stop anyone from partying.” The video has seen been removed.
The account says it’s affiliated with Barstool Sports, a New York-based sports and pop culture blog, though notes they are “not affiliated with any university/college in the New York Capital Region.”
Student members of the UAlbany Asian American Alliance requested that the University take action on Feb. 17.
LATEST STORIES
“As members of the Asian community on campus, your party is not funny and completely insensitive,” the organization said in a statement on Instagram. “The real life affects [sic] of this virus has led to not only mass stereotyping of Asian people but also hundreds of deaths across the world.”
They requested that the Dean of Student Office investigate “the illegal student group,” as well as have them delete the video and apologize on their Instagram homepage. In addition, they asked the Office of the President to “inform all UAlbany students to stop racism and disrespectful slogans in any situation, especially coronavirus hate crime against Asian students and scholars based on groundless suspicion of virus hosts.”
Lastly, the Asian American Alliance asked the International Student and Scholar Office, as well as Student Health Services, to address necessary mental and physical health concerns.
“Diseases that affect non-white populations are radicalized in a way that stems from the innate xenophobia of American society. It serves to dehumanize the affected population,” the post concludes. It added that the situation parallels to the Ebola hysteria in 2014.
The caption on the Instagram post asks people to email the Dean of Student Affairs and Vice President of Student Affairs.
UAlbany’s Asian American Alliance is made up of five Asian American organizations, including the Albany State Indian Alliance, the Chinese Student Association, the Japanese Student Association, the Korean Student Association, and the Liga Filipina, according to the university page.
There has so far not been any action from the university or barstoolalbany.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
