Santa Clara University Professor Accuses Campus Security Of Racially Motivated Harassment On Twitter

A Black assistant professor’s Twitter thread received tens of thousands of retweets after she detailed her encounter with the Santa Clara University (SCU) campus security.

Over the weekend, Danielle Fuentes Morgan, an assistant professor in the English department, shared 21 tweets in which she described how she, and her brother, who was visiting, were harassed by members of the campus security team in a racially motivated incident.

The confrontation occurred on Saturday when campus security approached Morgan’s brother, who was working on his laptop and told him to leave the area. However, when he packed up his belongings, the security followed him to the street where he was met by four security vehicles.

Morgan’s brother then proceeded to her home where the security officers demanded that she vouch for her brother and prove she lived at the residence.

“I asked what the issue was and he said my brother was ‘in the bushes’ and it was ‘suspicious,’ and they thought he may have been homeless. I asked why I needed to show ID at my own home. He said, ‘Well, it’s not your home. The University owns it,’” she tweeted.

Morgan’s husband, who is white, then came outside to talk to the officers and criticized them for harassing his brother-in-law because of his skin color.

“My husband told them that this was anti-Black and despicable. He told them that they don’t harass anyone white on campus, ever. He told them they only harass Black students and faculty, and that following him to a second and third location was punitive,” she wrote.

Morgan went on to reveal that the security officers couldn’t give her a solid answer explaining why they stopped her brother and insisted that he wasn’t in danger because they didn’t carry guns.

“At this point, they told us they didn’t have any guns on them, so my brother wasn't in danger. I was aghast that they explained he wasn’t in danger because they weren’t armed, not because he wasn't a threat or because they wouldn't hurt him, but because they COULDN’T,” she wrote.

Eventually several of Morgan’s neighbors gathered outside to rally behind the family and defuse the situation.

Kevin O’Brien, the president of SCU tweeted out a letter of apology following the incident. “To Professor @mos_daf and her family: I am deeply sorry for the hurtful incident that happened today @santaclarauniv,” the caption read.

“No work is more important than our efforts to realize a more inclusive, welcoming, and safe campus where all are respected and valued.”

As of Monday afternoon, the first message in Morgan’s Twitter thread has received over 41K retweets and 116K likes.