Interview Transcriptions

For the transcriptions of the interviews, I will not be including every single word said as the interviews lasted anywhere from 5 minutes to over a hour. I will note when I skip over parts. If you are interested in reading anything that is skipped, please send me an email. You can email me from the bottom of the homepage.

Here is a copy of the questionnaire I asked the students -

1. Are you aware that what you will be answering is anonymous?

2. Are you comfortable with your class standing and race being used for the premise of this project? You are always allowed to change your mind on what information is disclosed during this interview. All information collected will remain anonymous. No names, ages, genders, or unexpected defining identifiers will be disclosed.

a. (Based on answer above) What race(s) or ethnicity do you identify as?

3. What is your class standing?

4. How long have you attended Eastern Washington University?

5. How would you briefly describe your time attending Eastern? (Scale of 0-10)

a. Why?

6. Do you feel, personally, that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning? (Scale of 0-10 and why)

a. Does Eastern create a safe environment for living? (if they have lived on campus or experienced living and stories of it second hand) (Scale of 0-10 and why)

7. Having to venture off campus for necessities or living arrangements, how has that experience been?

a. Do Cheney and Spokane feel like safe spaces to live and hang out?

8. Do the recent protests and counter-protests from an anti-abortion group and students play a factor into any of your answers?

9. Washington, and especially this area of the state, have numerous active hate groups. Are you aware of these?

a. Do you feel like this affects your life on or outside of campus?

b. Are you aware that signs of a white supremacist group were hung on campus in February of 2018?

10. Has you interaction with local law enforcement or stories of interaction impact your comfort level?

11. Can the university/local areas do anything better to be more inclusive?

Important - When transcribing, I don't quote exactly what I said to perfection unless I changed a question or wording from the questionnaire, in which case I quote myself. Questions not in quotes are read to the students verbatim from the above questions and not summarized how they appear below.

Interview 1

Student identified as Mexican

Time attending Eastern - First quarter/Freshman

How would you describe you time at Eastern on a scale of 0-10?

"Probably like a 7. I've seen a lot of diversity here. Compared to other schools that I got into, this is the most diverse

out of all of them."

What else is enjoyable?

"I found it enjoyable because the first day in the mall during welcome week, I just saw a lot of my culture, in a way. There are

a lot of clubs and organizations that represent my culture and my background."

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning?

"Yes, I do."

Same with living?

"Yes."

Have you ventured off campus for necessities or living arrangements?

"I am from Spokane and still live there, so yes."

Do you feel that Cheney and Spokane are safe spaces to hang out?

"Yes."

Do the recent protests and counter protests affect any of your answers?

"I mean yes because I'm gay and I was told that I was going to hell as I was walking to class."

Are you aware of the amount of hate groups in Washington?

"I mean no, I wasn't aware that they had 28 active groups, but I was aware that they have hate groups."

Does you feel that this affects your life outside of campus?

"I've never personally been affected by them."

Has your interaction with local law enforcement or stories impacted your comfort level?

Yes, because the cops on the day of the protest had weapons out. I am brown, so I did feel like my guard had to be up. I was a little nervous."

Can the university or local area do anything to be more inclusive?

"Just talk about topics and issues that are going on outside of Eastern, outside of Spokane, outside of the United States

that impact students on campus."

Interview 2

Student identified as African American/Black

Time attending Eastern - First quarter/Freshman

How would you describe you time at Eastern on a scale of 0-10?

"Like a 8. I like it, it's just that some classes are a little difficult. Other than that, it's a good school.

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning?

"Yes."

Do you feel that Eastern creates a safe environment for living?

"Yes, I do."

Have you had to venture off campus for living necessities and how has that been?

"Since I'm a freshman, I don't have a car. I always have friends that can drive me or I can take the bus, there's always a good source of transportation for people that live on campus or things like that. It's been good, like a 7 probably.

Do you feel like Cheney and Spokane are safe spaces to hang out?

"Yes."

Do the recent protests and counter protests affect any of your answers?

"I feel like for the first question you asked me that I would change my answer. I am against that protest and I feel like that they shouldn't be here on campus and I feel like it affected a lot of people."

Are you aware of the amount of hate groups in Washington?

"No I was not aware of hate groups in Washington."

Do you feel like this affects your life on or outside of campus?

"Somewhat. I feel like it depends on the people you put yourself around. Personally, no. I could see how it affects some people."

Has your interaction with local law enforcement or stories impacted your comfort level?

"Yes."

"Could you explain why if you're comfortable doing so?"

"I don't really know how to explain why."

Can the university or local area do anything to be more inclusive?

"I feel like right now there's a lot of things to include different people in different places. There's a lot already out here, but there can never be too much."

Interview 3

Student identified a black and white

Time attending Eastern - Second year/Sophomore

How would you describe you time at Eastern on a scale of 0-10?

"I'd give it an 8."

Why?

"I don't know. I can't really compare it to any other colleges. I enjoy my classes for the most part."

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning?

"I don't know if Eastern as an institution takes on that responsibility on its own. I do know that it does employ really great faculty who do a little bit and I definitely feel like it's safe security wise."

"Do you feel that Eastern or Cheney creates a safe environment for living?"

"Yes. I feel like the beginning of the quarter and the closer you are to campus the rowdier it gets. I've had my gas siphoned or just stuff like that. I don't really fear violent crimes or anything like that."

Have you had to venture off campus for living necessities and how has that been?

"it's really frustrating having to drive into Spokane for so many things. I drive in for groceries and gas is less expensive in Spokane. Its so much wasted gas and its a huge bill just paying for the commute. Plus there's work. So many people drive into Spokane for work. I feel like there's not very many job opportunities out here. There's also not really restaurants out here. If you want something different than the four disgusting places that we have out here. Entertainment is almost non-existent out here, unless there's an Eastern event, but even those I shy away from because they're too crowded. If you want to go see a movie, you have to go into Spokane. So yeah, traveling is definitely a necessity."

Do you feel like Cheney and Spokane are safe spaces to live and hang out?

"There's definitely locations to avoid. It really depends because Spokane is such a diverse place in terms of socioeconomics. It just depends on the location. My current situations feel pretty safe."

Do the recent protests and counter protests affect any of your answers?

"Yes. I feel like socially this area is pretty hostile. It's super super conservative. By being so close to Idaho, white nationalism feels like a huge issue. All the anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, and as a queer black female it's intimating. Personally, I feel safe just because I remove myself from situations that feel hostile, but it definitely is something to consider if you are coming to Eastern. It's like 'oh this place is so diverse' and coming from Spokane, I laughed at it, but I guess it is still more diverse than Spokane. Spokane is so white."

Are you aware of the amount of hate groups in Washington?

"Yes."

Do you feel like this affects your life on or outside of campus?

"In person, not as much just because it is so hostile. I am pretty active online, I get into arguments on local news pages in the comments because it is so unbelievable. We are so unbelievably conservative. I follow a news source on social media that usually tries to stay pretty bipartisan and people will jump in the comments saying 'oh this place is playing the liberal agenda!' and it's just local people putting their own bias into the news. I insert myself into those situations because it is an important thing for me. You can't grow up in this area and not be aware of it."

Has your interaction with local law enforcement or stories impacted your comfort level?

"I will say this, anytime I am driving through Cheney and see cop cars with someone pulled over I slow down and see if the driver that was pulled over is a person of color and if they are, I'll pull over and watch because I know a lot of people in this area and I've heard a lot of horror stories even just in Cheney. You can have a PhD and get pulled over and you are subjected to different treatment. So yeah, in Cheney and Spokane I am very weary of the police. They're definitely pretty bias. The law enforcement around here do not bring me comfort. That's a big thing politically in Spokane with the new mayor elections. Nancy wants to increase police president down there. There definitely is a huge homeless population there and bringing in more police doesn't decrease it at all. The only thing that happens is you will see more violent outbreaks or chases through the mall. Just different stuff like that."

Can the university or local areas do anything to be more inclusive?

"One of the things is that they're trying to consolidate all of the programs on the second floor on Monroe. All of these budget cuts, all of this money on the stadium that we don't even fill up now, it's ridiculous. I think they just need to fund programs like the Africana program. That program is night and day for some people, if it didn't exist who knows where we'd be. Some of us would be having mental breakdowns or dropping out. A lot of the support that we get from faculty in that department comes straight out of their own pockets. They're pulling overtime helping us out, we have their cell numbers, but like I said in one of the previous questions, the good things that happen on campus is because there are good people that work here. It has nothing to do with what the university, as an institution, is actively trying to do. What it needs to do is continue giving funding to the people who are doing what needs to be done."

Interviews 4 and 5 were done at the same time -

Person 1 (P1) identified as black and person 2 (P2) identified as Multi-Racial.

Both students are juniors at Eastern Washington University.

Time attending Eastern:

P1 - 3 quarters

P2 - 3 years

P1 - Time at Eastern rating- "As I started joining campus communities, I didn't really feel like anything was different and I really enjoyed Eastern. As soon as I started getting more involved, it got more ugly, I'll say. There's a lot of pressure because you want to do really good and you also want to make the environment safe, so trying to do that at the same time is hard. You have a lot of teachers that don't agree with you, there's a lot of students who don't agree with you and they know what you look like and they're going to come up to you and say something passive aggressive. Even then it's like - I feel like it's just like any other school.

Me - "So on a scale of zero to ten, what would you give it?"

P1 - "I guess like a seven."

Me - "I don't mean to skew your answer, but that seems pretty high for saying that campus is agressive and everything."

P1 - "Oh well, I know. I guess it's because that's what my whole entire life has been. This is better than SCC, but they're both, you know, like shit. They're both bad, but at least there's communities here. There's stuff here."

P2 - Time at Eastern rating- ""Eastern to me, when you come in, you think because of the many cultures that are here it would be more diverse and includes everyone and actually cares, but when you look at it and see the issues that happen on campus you realize that it really is a predominantly white institution, it acts as such. You feel like a quota at a certain point. It's like 'okay, I am just part of one of your statistics.'"

P1 - "Did you know that last month [October] was Native American Heritage Month? I would have never known if it wasn't for Twitter. You would think that with the program that we have here that we'd have each month - of course we do Black History Month -

but like what Pacific Islander Month? What about Hispanic/Latino Month? That was in September. We're not doing the months that we should be doing. We don't promote it."

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning (on a scale of 0-10)?

P2 - "I'd say less than 5, but more than 1 though."

Me - "Would you like to explain why?"

P2 - "You wouldn't even realize it until issues come up. When situations do come up, like the protesters for example, you try to advocate or make faculty and administration realize that, yes these protesters are exercising freedom of speech, but at the end of the day

it's jeopardizing the students environment of learning. You see the reactions from it, it's not how it needs to be, especially since people pay so much to get this opportunity to learn and most people that come to Eastern come from backgrounds where

they don't have that opportunity to learn where they're from. They come here to get that escape because Eastern, financially, is the best school to get that. Except when you get here, it's disappointing how much they actually care about the students' environment

of learning."

P1 - "I'd also say less than 5, definitly. For me, it's two things: some teachers will have discussions about very controversial topics, but they won't moderate the discussion. They'll just ask and then let everyone have a free-for-all. That's great and all, but a lot of people say very fucked up shit. It's stuff that is targeted or racist or whatever, but you know freedom of speech so we have to let them say it. At the same time, I feel like there's ways to talk about controversial issues without letting it be a free-for-all. At other times, I feel that teachers try to approach controverisal topics, but either they don't agree with how stuff is or they don't really understand it themselves, so when they approach the topic they might do things that are like - just don't do it - they don't have the depth. I'll just say it like that."

This is just the first eight minutes of a hour long interview with these two people that I transcribed. Throughout the website, I do quote things that were said later on in the interview and there are some very important topics that get brought up by them that I adjusted my work to include those topics. If anyone is interested in reading more of this interview, I will transcribe the rest.

Interview 6

Student identified as first generation African immigrant

Time attending Eastern - First quarter/Freshman

How would you describe you time at Eastern on a scale of 0-10?

"I'd say it's a mix bag, I suppose. I'd give it a 7. It is very diverse, but it's to an extent, I believe. It still has it's own biases and agendas and what not, but like I said, it's diverse to an extent and they can not deny that fact."

"Would you like to explain a little bit more on why you gave a 7?"

"I feel at home home in this college because I wanted to be on my own and away from family so I could experience being an adult. Also, there's a lot of services that can help you out here. When I was coming here the first couple of weeks, there's a program that allowed a multicultural event to happen for a couple days that allowed students to learn about services here on campus like CAPS. The reason why I give it a 7 and not a 10 outright is because of the environment, there have been people coming in and having their political beliefs spread and the irony behind that is that one of the men was murderer, so take that for what you will. I do believe that it can get hostile at times when it shouldn't be and this is suppose to be a safe place, this is a campus. People are supposed to be taken care of and protected."

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning?

"Oh yeah 100 percent, except for the whole event with people coming in here and expressing about abortion, that one is kind of if-y. The rest of it though, yeah. They have their own security force and whatnot, which is helpful. You can call them if you need help

and they're there within five or ten minutes. I do believe it's a safe place, to an extent."

Do you feel that Eastern creates a safe environment for living?

"Yes, to an extent. If you live on campus, it's usually pretty safe. If you live in apartments it's less safe, but that's fine you're an adult and you can handle yourself."

Have you had to venture off campus for living necessities and how has that been?

"I haven't done that. The only time I've had to venture off campus is to go out with friends. It's been fine."

"So you've been able to get all your food and stuff here on campus?"

"Yeah."

"Have you been able to get produce and fresh food?"

"Produce? Yes. The only time I've gotten produce though is when they have their market and I've been able to go through and get some things."

"Since you haven't really been off campus I'll skip a question."

Do the recent protests and counter protests affect any of your answers?

"Yes. That's why I was saying earlier that to an extent it's safe here. People should be able to go to school without having to worry about other people expressing their own agendas or beliefs at other people. You shouldn't need to do that unless it's important. You should have the right to do what you want with your own body and not be shamed for it."

Are you aware of the amount of hate groups in Washington?

"I guess I haven't really known about that. I know that there is certain hate out there. There are certain groups that hate people like me and believe I'll take their jobs because I come from Africa. Which I don't want to take your jobs, but I do want to live my own dream. If I do have to, that is something that I will do, absolutely."

Do you feel like this affects your life on or outside of campus?

"No, I don't think so. I don't like to focus on negativity. If I think about something too much, it drowns everything else out and I can't really focus on my education."

Has your interaction with local law enforcement or stories impacted your comfort level?

"From prior encounters before university have been somewhat if-y. The police officers here are more calm and collected. They're not - I guess this might be controversial - they're not as trigger happy, I suppose. They listen and seem to understand the students more personally."

Can the university or local areas do anything to be more inclusive?

"There's poster all over the place for student resources, but people are constantly moving and they don't have time to read. I'd say that emailing people directly or have a full on week where they promote the services. I only found out about a lot of them because I went to a multicultural event that was happening a few weeks prior to the fall quarter. When it comes to be inclusive, I think they're doing a pretty good job, to an extent. I do believe that they make everyone feel welcome, but the only thing I'm worried about is - well you're allowed to do what you want because you're an American citizen and you can express your own opinions - I just think that doing that on an educational campus is, in some ways, demeaning to the college's reputation and also the fact that

people were so focused on the anti-abortion activist that some of them weren't even going to classes anymore because they were so worried about things. I'd say that the college should do more by not letting people like that on campus unless they are promoting inclusiveness and safety for students here."

Interview 7

Student identified as Kenyan and black

Time at Eastern - 4 years/Senior

How would you describe you time at Eastern on a scale of 0-10?

"Uhh like a 1."

"A 1?"

"Yeah."

"Why a 1?"

"Okay so, originally I visited Eastern and came here mostly because of the isolation. I think for me, I wanted graduate and get a good paying job and when I came to tour I was pretty insistent on talking to upper-classmen to see how their work processes were and job processes were. I think I got too many strong response for what their experiences were doing that, so I was like 'Eastern may be not a school that may not be intended for certain students who are more motivated to go that route. Ultimately, I considered

another school and then transferred to Eastern just because Eastern had offered me a scholarship. That was a pretty big reason why I came here. It was an incentive and good enough for me to entertain attending Eastern. Yeah it mostly the money to be honest.

Now that I think about it, that's pretty much the reason why I came to Eastern."

"So it's a 1 because it does or doesn't do what?"

"It doesn't provide the resources that students need. I came into Eastern knowing what I was going to do because I had been asking upper-classmen questions and I had good mentors that pushed me to do what I liked. I already had a lot of exposure on what I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted to do coming here, but I don't feel like the instructors here push students to do that because it's mostly just doing homework assignments. I guess there's career resources here. That's the thing is though is that Eastern promotes things like their diversity award, but what does that even mean? I guess that's pretty much the objective of your project. If we look at the

diversity, you also have to look at the magnification of the populations of the schools too. U-Dub has, I believe, 40,000 students. How does that diversity scale between schools here and there? Eastern can have like 200 students of a minority and it's a lot, but U-Dub has the same amount and it's nothing."

Do you feel that Eastern creates and maintains a safe environment for learning?

"Yeah, but it's also on the individual and their motivation."

Do you feel that Eastern creates a safe environment for living?

"Yeah I have heard a lot of stories, but I'd say yeah."

Have you had to venture off campus for living necessities and how has that been?

"Well it has been fairly easy because of the amount of people I know at this school. Moving into apartments, for me, hasn't been much of a challenge. I've never had any problems with that, but I know friends who have had challenges because they don't know too many people.

"Have you had to go into Spokane for groceries or anything?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty mobile. I've lived in Spokane a few times. Grocery Outlet is out here now, so that's pretty convenient. I try to go into Costco as much as I can and get produce."

Do you feel like Cheney and Spokane are safe spaces to live and hang out?

"Spokane? Absolutely not. I think it's maybe my own appearance, but like I'm either a threat to someone or I'm going there to join illegal activity. I've had someone offer me crack numerous times just coming from class. The first time I was a bit confuse, but

it's annoying now. I try to avoid Spokane. I know people try to shed positive light on Spokane, but it's just my personal preference to not go there. There's certain areas that are less sketchy than others though."

"So is it more of a drug issue than a race issue?"

"Well it became a drug issue because of a race issue."

Do the recent protests and counter protests affect any of your answers?

"Well, it stirred a lot of discomfort amongst students and as a student you kind of feel the domino effect of discomfort amongst students. Seeing people argue against women issues who were mostly guys, that's pretty controversial. Those are definitely conversations that only women should be having, but in the context of those anti-abortion protester on campus, which were men, should not have even been allowed to protest such an issue like that. I don't really know if they mentioned other topics than abortion."

Are you aware of the amount of hate groups in Washington?

"Oh yeah, of course. The thing is, I go to Idaho more than I go to Spokane. I usually go to places like Coeur d'Alene because of the food there and that gas is so cheap there. I would find it a lot more challenging to go there during the evening times. If you got there

during the day, there's not really much going on. Most of the times that I am in Idaho, I'm usually the only black person in the groups, but they are as vigilant as I am too. There's certain areas that I know I wouldn't be welcomed at."

Do you feel like this affects your life on or outside of campus?

"I mean the fear of going somewhere shouldn't be something that I should face. Even my parents have warned me about going to Idaho and they're immigrants. They don't even understand the full scope of Idaho and its historical identity and its relations with hate groups. It shouldn't be fearful having to go there. So yeah, it affects my life outside of class."

Has your interaction with local law enforcement or stories impacted your comfort level?

"I avoid them. I avoid police at all cost."

"Why is that?"

"Well I shouldn't say at all cost, but in social interactions, yeah. As far as like if I'm at parties with friends and police come I don't try to engage them in anything. I just try to mind my own business as far as that. I do know that the police here are a lot

more lenient than in larger cities, like Seattle. Most of the officers here are probably trained for inebriated students. Maybe if someone had thoughts about going on a rampage or something like that, they are trained, but those things are rare."

Can the university or local areas do anything to be more inclusive?

"Yeah, the president here should do here job. Tell her that I said that she should do her job. You can put my name."

"I can't"

"Well you can and tell her that I said that she should do her job before we vote her out."

The other 3 interviews I have done have been done in writing or have been asked not to post transcripts on the website.