Fay Wells, Trinity ‘99, is a Duke alumna who currently resides in Santa Monica, Calif., and works as senior vice president of strategy at a multinational corporation. On Sept. 6 at approximately 11:15 p.m., Wells’ neighbor called the police saying that two Hispanic individuals were burglarizing Wells’ apartment. The people in question were Wells and a locksmith opening her own door. She went on to write about the incident in an article for The Washington Post that has sparked conversations across the country. The Chronicle’s Jaime Gordon spoke with Wells to discuss the event, her experience as woman of color and relations both at Duke and around the world.
The Chronicle: Can you describe what happened to you on Sept. 6?
Fay Wells: I locked myself out of my apartment on my way to play soccer. I noticed right away, but I didn’t want to miss my game, so I decided to deal with it when I got back. After the game, I called a locksmith. The locksmith came and opened the door, and then I went into my apartment as always.
I had taken my shoes off when I heard a loud voice outside and what I thought was a small dog. I cracked open my door to find a large brown and black dog. I was kind of confused, so I walked back inside and locked the door. I looked through the window and there was a man at the bottom of the stairs with a gun pointed at me. I said very loudly, “What’s going on?” He said, “Come outside with your hands up.”
I went outside and saw that there were tons of police officers. No one answered me when I asked what was going on. I really thought they were going to kill me and I had no idea why. They asked if there was anyone in the apartment with me or if I had any weapons and then proceeded inside even after I said no. I told them, “I don’t want you in my apartment, I don’t think you have the right to do that,” but they still went inside. After they searched my apartment, they verified that everything was okay and let me back in.
I don’t believe that if I were white, their response would have been this extreme. At first I was just confused, but once I realized sort of what was happening, I was angry. I had a really hard time. When I asked my neighbor about why he called the police, he told me to go f*** myself. Afterward, I told a few people [about the incident], then posted an excerpt on Facebook and eventually went on to write the Washington Post article.
TC: How did other people of color in the Santa Monica community respond to the incident?
FW:In the days following the event, I just reached out to so many groups saying, “What do I do?” The group that was the most active and the most supportive was the Santa Monica Coalition for Racial Justice. They immediately were 100 percent behind me, as there have actually been many other incidents with Santa Monica law enforcement aggressively policing people of color.
TC: What were race relations at Duke like when you were there?
FW:I think that they were similar to how they are now. Duke was very segregated in some ways. African American students hung out with African American students, Asian students hung out with Asian students, and so on. Of course, there was always some overlap and some mixture, but it was all very separate. Back in 1997, we had this event called Race Day that was all about discussing issues of race and ethnicity on campus. At that event, they gave out this t-shirt and on the back it said “Desegregate Duke.”
TC: Have you heard about recent racist incidents at Duke? Do you think the racial climate has improved since you graduated?
FW: I have heard about a number of them, and they’re very disheartening. Sometimes, it feels like we’ve come a long way as a country, but not very far as people living together. It’s unfortunate that these things happen, but I think they are only really indicative of things in the larger society. It makes me very sad. Unfortunately, I think that some things haven’t changed.
TC: Generally, what has been your experience as a person of color who attended elite institutions?
FW:I’m a senior executive in tech, and I am one of the few people I see like myself in many meetings. I will go to venture conferences and there may be one or two people of color and one or two females. Because of this lack of diversity, I believe I experience a fair amount of microaggressions. It’s really interesting because it usually occurs when people find out that I went to Duke or Dartmouth. I get comments like “Oh! You must be really smart!”, “Wow! That’s great” or “You’re a vice president? That’s amazing.” There’s just a lot of extra testing that my colleagues who don’t look like me don’t get. I have to prove myself many more times than someone who has the same credentials but is of a different race.
TC: Do you have hope for the future of race relations in our nation and here at Duke?
FW: I am hopeful because I have to be hopeful. It is nearly impossible for me to believe that as people get smarter, learn more about each other and have more experiences that [they] can continue having the same prejudices. Sadly, I don’t know what it’s going to take. There are so many stories with endings worse than mine. In addition to hope, there needs to be a few other things. Specifically, I think about humanity and accountability. Humanity entails people realizing how their behavior affects others. Also, I think there has to be accountability for people’s actions and what they’re doing in addition to just hope.
Editor's Note: Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks responded to Wells' Washington Post story in a statement explaining her department's side of the story. Santa Monica police also made a recording of the incident available, which was posted online by the Los Angeles Times.
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