An employee at Utah Valley University claimed that a young minority student was uneducated for denying that she had experienced racism after her father perpetrated a minor racism hoax, according to video footage obtained exclusively by Underreported Stories.
A source told me Elaine Lewis, the Director of Freshman Advisors at Utah Valley University, can be heard in a Zoom call with other university directors describing how a young minority student was apologetic for her father’s allegations of racism against the university.
A father alleged in a one-on-one meeting with Lewis that the college denied his child residency because it racially profiled her last name. However, universities are not responsible for allocating residency status, rather the state bears the burden to allocate proof of residency.
“The dad felt very strongly that the student was being racially profiled and that the non-residency status was based purely on the student’s last name,” Lewis said, recounting the interaction.
According to Lewis’ version of the story, the student began apologizing for her dad’s false accusations of racism against the university. Lewis, a white woman, proceeded to explain to the minority student how her father’s racism hoax was “a really, really powerful thing.”
“Your dad really has experienced [racism.] And it was so interesting, the student immediately said, ‘I’ve never experienced it.’ And, you know, that she probably just hasn’t been educated to know that she has probably,” Lewis said in the video.
“We talked about how important it was to acknowledge her dad’s experience, and her dad’s had a really tough life as a result of it, and everything that he’s doing to advocate for her is a really, really powerful thing,” Lewis continued. “Instead of being embarrassed by her dad, she should be grateful that he’s taking the steps and advocating on her behalf.”
Lewis did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
