Racism at Randolph? One Student’s Story

Written By: Katherine McCallister ‘17

Published December 2014

Harassment has been the topic of discussion at Randolph recently, but for one student this has been an ongoing issue for over a year.

Dominique (Dom) Rose ’15 has been receiving racially offensive letters, pictures, comments yelled outside of his window, and even death threats since Moonlight Madness 2013. After having changed rooms, the harassment continued in the form of letters under his door, in his mailbox, and, most recently, inside his backpack while it was sitting in the Student Center. “I try to stay busy to keep my mind off of it,” Rose said.

 Though Dominique Rose ‘15 has received threatening
notes over the past year, some students have also
 sent him kind notes of support. 

Photo Courtesy of Rose.

Rose filed a report with the school last February, and since then he has been working with Kris Irwin, director of Campus Safety & Security. The harassment stopped for a while at the end of the 2014 spring semester, but picked up again this year when a letter was placed inside his unattended backpack. Following the suggestion of Irwin, Rose has filed a report with the local police department.

The College has taken the necessary steps for a normal harassment case, including moving rooms, locking mailboxes, having a slip to block notes from being slid under the door, and even installing a camera in front of his room last year. Since those measures have not seem stop the offender(s), the police are now being involved. “There are a lot of investigative tools to use,” Irwin said. “We are a community of very accepting people, but these actions are not acceptable.” From now on, the police will be notified immediately whenever the College learns anything new with regards to Rose’s case.

Rose has received support from his friends from the beginning of the harassment. Most recently, Evan Robert Smith ’15, president of the Student Government Association and also a close friend of Rose, sent out a petition letter to students, faculty, and staff, asking the community to show support for Rose by signing the document. “More people have my back than just my normal group of friends,” Rose said. Irwin agrees that the petition is a positive way to react to the situation. “It shows outward support for Dom.”



Since the publication and distribution of the petition, Rose has not received any new harassing notes. However, the investigation will not stop. “We will continue to investigate, along with the police department, “ said Irwin. “To stop this kind of behavior, appropriate action will be taken.”