On January 27th, Parkland Public Safety Department sent an email to the campus community in regard to hate crimes that had persisted since last semester. The perceived target of those crimes was faculty member, Dr. Umeeta Sadarangani.
Dr. Umeeta Sadarangani, Professor of English and Coordinator of the Writing Lab, has been an educator at Parkland since 1997, feeling at home up until recently. Dr. Sadarangani is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a proud supporter of Parkland’s PRIDE club, like many other Parkland faculty members. She shows her support with PRIDE meeting posters and rainbow flags on her office door.
The first attack on Sep. 24 2021. 
The attack on Oct. 4 2021. 
The attack on Oct. 8 2021.
September 24th, 2021, these signs of support started being ripped off of her door and Ally signs disappeared from other office doors on the second floor of the C-Wing. This would be an on and off occurrence for the next 3 weeks. In a final assertion of defiance, the English professor put up another pride flag with a post-it note declaring, “Use your words.” The attacks stopped.
January 13th, 2022, more flyers were ripped down. Not satisfied, on January 26th, they used their words. Ripping one PRIDE meeting poster in half, they wrote a derogative phrase expressing their thoughts about the community the poster represented. The next day after the PRIDE poster was replaced, the same thing happened, except this time they used a word that only needs to be described with one letter.
Public Safety was notified after the first attack. Dr. Sadarangani said, “Parkland Public Safety responded swiftly when I reported the incidents. Members of the Parkland administration have also reached out to me. I have felt supported, and that helps while dealing with this stressful situation.” During the fall semester, no one was apprehended or seen committing these crimes. After the reappearance, showing direct and persistent hate, enough was enough.
After the attack on Thursday, January 27th, on Monday, January 31st, a camera was put up near Dr. Sadarangani’s office. On Monday, February 7, the creature of habit was caught rainbow-handed. Since this is an ongoing investigation, Public Safety cannot disclose information about the arrest, including the name of the apprehended. On February 22nd, Director of Public Safety, Matthew Kopmann, sent out another email with more information. There were two individuals responsible for these acts, and with their apprehension Public Safety is confident this 6-month incident is over.
Dr. Sadarangani feels disturbed, disappointed, and angry; however, her colleagues’ support has provided a silver lining. She said,
“My colleagues in the Humanities department have been especially supportive. Many of them have put up Ally signs and rainbow posters after the repeated destruction and theft of materials on my door and the theft of Ally signs across the C wing. I feel fortunate to work with them.”
This was more than an attack on Dr. Sadarangani, it was an attack on Parkland’s LGBTQ+ community and their comfort in their school. Posters for their PRIDE meeting times, times where those in the community can feel safe and heard, were specifically targeted. Ash Norvask (they/them), a Parkland PRIDE club member, had this to reflect over these events, “It’s 2022 now, and most of us are getting used to a more accepting world. When this happened, it kind of served as a reminder that not everyone is on our side. It was kind of a wake-up call for me personally, that people are still out there that would like to punish gay people for being gay and call us names and take it into their own hands to show their disapproval of people just living their lives.” If this comment hits home as a proud member or an ally, contact Tanino Minneci: gminneci@parkland.edu or Jane Smith: janesmith@parkland.edu, and help build a community of support and well-being.
Dr. Sadarangani noted, “Words are powerful. I hope the person or persons who wrote slurs on flyers posted on my door will understand the impact of those words. I have offered to meet with those responsible so that they can connect a person to the acts they committed.”