Today’s the first day I’m publicly exposing a professor at Skidmore College for a racist incident. His name is Mark Vinci. 

In April of 2019, I had my private lessons with Mark Vinci for jazz piano. One day, I was very downcast at a session with him. He paused the music, and asked me why I was upset. I opened up and told him it was because I didn’t feel like I was accepted at Skidmore as an Asian American. I told him I had experienced a lot of microaggressions and how I felt silenced. Somehow, the conversation changed, and he started invalidating my experiences.

 “You should be talking to the counseling center about this, not me!”

“It’s your fault you don’t use your resources right.” 

“If you don’t feel accepted at Skidmore, go back to Beijing!” 

When I correct him, and tell him I’m ethnically Korean, he starts going off about how my parents and I should go back to Korea. He continues his rant, and then also mentions Kim Jong Un. 

I tried to speak up on how white America used Asians for cheap, disposable labor in the mines and railroads to give instances of racial oppression, but he ignored my shocked protest.

I also mention how Asian Americans in general were discriminated against during the Yellow Peril, but he refutes that WWII was caused by the Japanese and Asians. This is only a fraction of his insensitive comments. He was gaslighting my lived experiences. I felt invalidated and silenced and helpless. 

THIS IS ONLY A SMALL INSTANCE OF THE INJUSTICES THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR FEEL AT SKIDMORE. 

Students of Skidmore, now is our time to speak up.

Mark Vinci has also recently been outed for racist remarks and blatantly blaming COVID contamination from an Asian International student- even though he lives in NYC, a recent hub of COVID-19 cases.

I have had ENOUGH of the fact that Skidmore uses People of Color as tokens and diversity statistics, but doesn’t actually take any actions or uphold their policies. 

I have talked to other students that were harassed by him, this disgusts me and this disgusts many. 

Skidmore is not a safe place for many minority students. I never felt safe at Skidmore and the community surrounding the college. 

I am still afraid of Mark Vinci. I can’t walk in the music building before looking down the hallway just to check if he’s there. I always avoid walking by his office. I am a music major, and dread going to our music center, Zankel.

I am speaking up again because I demand justice for the people he has harassed, especially PEOPLE OF COLOR. 

He does not deserve to step a foot on any institution’s campus. He is racist and sexist person. He attacks students who seek for his help. HE NO LONGER DESERVES ANY PLACE AT SKIDMORE AND NEVER HAS.

PROFESSORS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONES WE GO TO FOR BIAS INCIDENTS. NOT THE ONES WE WRITE BIAS INCIDENTS ABOUT.

I know many other students of Color that have experienced microaggressions and macroaggressions against MANY other professors at Skidmore.

With my story here, I am not trying to take light away from the current Black Lives Matter conversation. I am not trying to decenter the current Black Lives Matter conversation. This is not my intention with this petition. I am doing this so that People of Color and other marginalized people that may have faced discrimation because of their gender expression and identity, sexuality, age, ableism, socioeconomic class, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and other parts of their identity get to speak up about the injustices they have faced both in and out of the Skidmore community. We demand Skidmore holds their faculty and staff accountable for these injustices. Students of Color have stayed silent about these incidents. We demand justice.

SKIDMORE. Uphold your policies. Stand by your truth. You haven’t protected students of Color, and we DEMAND CHANGE.

WE ARE UNPROTECTED. 

Skidmore, I am ashamed.

We are ashamed.  

Skidmore. Do better. 

-Sarah Choi, Class of 2022