Hate crime stirs outrage on campus

A Jim Crow-era symbol of hate outside the Nyumburu Cultural Center has united student leaders in outrage, but has also renewed concern that the campus lacks sufficient dialogue about diversity.

Students say that even as administrators have worked to keep the student body statistically diverse and have often promoted the campus as a melting pot of student life, divisions remain. To ensure this rare hate crime does not repeat, student leaders have called for a campus-wide discussion of racial tensions.

After Black Student Union President Altmann Pannell saw the noose in the stairwell between the Stamp Student Union and Nyumburu, he had no doubts as to the malicious intent behind its placement. He said the rope was about five feet long, coarse like twine and hung high enough to raise questions about how it was erected.

"I wouldn't say I am stunned or distraught, I just want to know what is going on at the campus I love," Pannell said. "We get into our bubble and think life is great, but the outside world is not. Race is still an issue today, regardless of how taboo it might seem."

Javier Montenegro, a senior government and politics major and former Latino Student Union president, echoed similar concerns.

"It doesn't surprise me because there is a lot of latent racism that is not so explicit. It only takes one act," he said.

University President Dan Mote said a full investigation is in order and called the hate crime a university-wide issue. However, some student leaders are worried that responsibility and subsequent dialogue will be delegated only to cultural groups on campus instead of expanding discussion to all students.

"My hope and wish for this incident is that it doesn't fall solely into the hands of cultural groups, but that the university addresses this issue that affects everyone and issues a mandate as something that endangers the entire campus community," said Connie Iloh, a BSU vice president.

"This noose is not just the Black, African or Caribbean student's problem… it's everyone's problem," Pannell said.

Student Government Association Andrew Friedson issued a statement condemning the act, saying such bigotry threatens the university community at-large.

"Hanging a noose outside of our cultural center is not a prank," Friedson said in a written statement. "It is a painful allusion to the domestic terrorism that plagued our country's past and a clear indication that our struggle to end racism is not over."

Mote first heard about the incident as he was stepping off an airplane Saturday night from a trip to China, but he immediately issued a statement to the campus community.

"I think it's fortunate that we haven't had these issues in the past and that's why were taking this so seriously," Mote said in an interview. "I think this is something we just can't tolerate."

University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said that this is the first significant hate crime he has seen on the campus since 1999, when letters filled with racial slurs and violent threats were sent to the African American studies department, BSU and then-SGA President Juliana Njoku, a Nigerian.

Latino Student Union President Iris Ferrufino said that whether the incident was a joke or ignorant commentary, it only serves to remind students about the many boundaries that still need to be brought down between cultural groups.

"I understand it's never going to be utopia," Ferrufino said. "But I hope something like this can be turned into something positive and initiate dialogue between people about cultural issues and not cause anger or fear."

Though he normally deletes the frequent crime alerts that appear in his inbox, electrical engineering graduate student Aditya Antao said he could not ignore the words "hate crime" written in the subject line. After reading about the noose, Antao said he was quite disturbed.

"It's up to everyone to take a look and see what is happening," Antao said. "Everyone is responsible and should be concerned - anyone that believes in inclusiveness ought to be concerned."

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