BY IVY ZHOU ‘27
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE STUDENT
To Fellow Mohomies,
A few days ago, a piece of paper saying “ching…and so” was found under a large rock near Ham/Macgregor. This led to wide range discussions on Fizz, and many Asian students felt uncomfortable, hurt, and unsafe. Yesterday, the school shared that the preliminary investigation indicated that “the signage was part of a larger message that was not a slur.”
But intention does not remove impact. The paper might not intend to be racist, but the harm it’s causing is real. The huge issue now is how our community responded.
On Fizz, Asian students were met with comments saying we were “overdramatic,” “begging to be discriminated against,” or that “ching is not racist,” brushing off the discomfort that many of us felt. For Asians, racism often shows up in small, subtle, ambiguous micro-aggressions that pile up over time. So when we finally speak up, being told we’re “overreacting” hits especially hard. As people who are directly targeted by this slur and — many of us — as second-language learners of English, we even found ourselves having to explain the painful history and meaning of the racist slur to people whose native language it comes from.
At this point, the problem is no longer the sign itself.
The problem is how quickly some people rushed to downplay the harm and invalidate those who were hurt.
As Asians, we are the last ones who want to see anti-Asian racism happen. But given today’s political climate and seeing so many hate crimes have happened on campus in the past, how could we not relate this incident to racism? Especially when all we saw was a single paper, held down by a huge rock, with an anti-Asian slur on it. In that moment, thinking the worst is a natural instinct.
This incident shows something important: Our community lacks basic awareness about anti-Asian racism.
I’m not here to cancel anyone. The truth is, the heavy cancel culture at MHC already keeps people too scared to speak openly and honestly. And this fear is exactly what turned Fizz into such a toxic place, where anonymity gives people the courage to say the things they would never dare to say out loud in public.
I’m writing this because we, as a community, still have A LOT of work to do.
Dismissing harm doesn’t make people safer.
Silencing pain doesn’t make it disappear.
We deserve to be heard, believed, and supported.
PS: I am putting down my name because I stand by my words. Anonymity can enable courage, but it can also enable harm without accountability.
Ivy Zhou, ’27
