Music teacher Priscilla Rahn of Project 21 says it is wrong that the Kent State musical group Vocal Intensity A Cappella keeps white students from auditioning for certain solos. According to emails obtained by Campus Reform, they are limited to "people of color" because white students would be engaging in "cultural appropriation" if they were to perform them.
"It should never be about skin color to begin with," Rahn contends. "It should be a hundred percent about we want everyone who has a connection with the music to prepare an audition."
She thinks Mark Phillips, a three-year member and the a cappella group's beatboxer, should continue to pursue the issue legally. He was placed on probation and scheduled for a disciplinary hearing after complaining the policy was "at odds with equal opportunity."
"I think that the education community should get behind him and support a lawsuit," she adds. "The university has basically discouraged, alienated, [and] ostracized a young person."
According to the group's constitution, discrimination is prohibited on the basis of race; Kent State University's policy also bans racial discrimination and specifically retaliation against students who challenge it.
Even so, the executive board has confirmed that the solos would remain restricted to black students unless overturned by a vote.It also prepared a process that included a closed hearing, Phillips' potential permanent removal from the a cappella group, and even a potential several months-long suspension.
Phillips ultimately resigned, calling the process a "performative ambush designed as a hearing."
"I raised a valid concern, discussed the definition of discrimination, and held a mirror up to what they were doing," he told Campus Reform. "In their eyes, anti-white discrimination is OK, but challenging that precedent isn't."
