[committee] Complaint: regarding Bob's behaviour on the UCC discord

[Jackie Shan]

Hi UCC Committee!

Sorry to put this to you guys, but I'm submitting a complaint regarding
Bob's behaviour on the UCC discord last Thursday (16/01/25), especially
surrounding his defense of the r-slur.

I'm sure most of you are aware of what happened, so I won't go into intense
detail but I will highlight some things. I have also attached my
screenshots of the entire conversation (which was public) from the #ucc
channel. The only messages missing from the screenshots are when people
present during the time of the conversation were using the same channel for
unrelated/irrelevant discussion.

One of my big concerns is the use of the r-slur in the first place.
Although this would be terrible regardless of context, I feel it is even
more inappropriate here, given that Cameron Hall & UCC's communities
consist of a higher percentage of neurodivergent people; people who this
slur targets.

In addition, with the new uni year approaching, UCC being a community in
which people use and defend the r-slur casually is not a good image for
prospective members and freshers, one that I fear would give the wrong
impression of our community. I understand that Bob is one person and
obviously not representative of the community as a whole, but freshers
don't have the years of insight that me or other members have, and may just
see a single message or person that makes or breaks UCC for them.

Furthermore, the discussion resurfacing over and over again, and Bob's
behaviour during what should be a clear-cut case ("hey don't use the
r-slur. it's a slur. yes the word has valid uses, this is not one of them,
let's stop now") upset many present members on the Discord, including
myself, and I'm sure was upsetting to members to read later, even after the
conversation had ended.

During this, Bob was asked to stop by members, and then by a UCC Committee
member (Gary). I am glad that Gary stepped in, but Bob continued to defend
the use, sending a message lamenting the lack of ability to use the r-slur
to refer to a person who is intellectually disabled, and referring to a
mythical "word police". It was later pointed out that Gary had asked people
stop, and Bob responded with resistance and his reason why he hadn't
stopped (before continuing discussion):
[image: image.png]

I'm not sure why Bob was not temporarily muted or similarly from the UCC
discord when it was clear that he wouldn't simply listen to UCC Committee
(even if Bob believes Gary can't act on behalf of Committee). I believe
that if Bob had been muted, the discussion would've ended, as all else
present had come to agree that the r-slur was indeed a slur, and shouldn't
be used as such, and that the word had it's valid uses (but was not used as
such in the initial message).

To summarise my pain points and desired resolutions:

   - Bob's continual defense of the r-slur and behaviour throughout.
   - I want UCC to be a community in which the r-slur is understood and
   avoided, and for this standard to be upheld.
   -
   - I believe Bob should've been temporarily muted after he continued
   defending the r-slur after being asked to cease by Committee, and am upset
   that UCC Committee didn't take action in this case - even as a temporary
   measure.
   - I wish for Ben's use of the r-slur to be sufficiently warned about.

As always, I'm contactable via the usual ways (Discord, Facebook, IRL in
Cameron Hall) and am happy to discuss further with Committee regarding this
matter.

xoxo and best of luck,
Jackie Shan
(@jaackies on Discord)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/pipermail/committee/attachments/20250123/f4f6cb9b/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 72890 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/pipermail/committee/attachments/20250123/f4f6cb9b/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: screenshots.zip
Type: application/x-zip-compressed
Size: 1303452 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/pipermail/committee/attachments/20250123/f4f6cb9b/attachment.bin>