The Black Student Association (BSA) held a panel on Feb. 11 to discuss how the university will respond to potential threats of white supremacist recruitment on campus.
The Panel included Chancellor Keith Carver, Dr. Andy Lewter, vice chancellor for Student Affairs; Dr. Henry Parker, professor of Philosophy; Dr. David Barber, professor of History; Kaylyn Bailey, BSA president; Kayla Gooden, BSA 2nd vice president; and Courtney Price, BSA member.
At the end of November 2019, flyers were placed on cars parked in the commuter lot near Pacer Pond. The Church of Creativity, a white supremacist, anti-Semitic and anti-Christian group, distributed 36 flyers that contained racist cartoons, messages and the group’s contact information.
Bailey, who served as the panel mediator, opened the panel by asking about the panelists’ initial responses to the flyers.
Carver said he knew something needed to be done about the flyers the moment the flyers were given to him.
“This literature is not reflective of the core values that we hold so dear on our campus,” Carver said in an email addressed to faculty and students.
Lewter and Carver met the Monday following the incident to discuss a course of action. On Jan. 17, they met with a group of students and administration to discuss what can be learned from the situation and how the university should move forward.
Eight topics of concern came up: needing a place to safely and anonymously report incidents, students being called to represent their race, how to identify micro problems, segregation at tabling, using welcome weekend as a way to discuss issues, increasing diversity in PEP leaders and staff and creating a new campus safety plan.
A brief interaction between Barber and Parker addressed the issue of what is being done and who has been contacted regarding the flyers, which prompted a response from Price. She, along with other panelists, said that the black students on campus should be have been reached out to, but the entire student body needed to be notified.
Lewter said that it was important to quickly get the message out to the community once a plan of action was determined. The public received Carver’s email Tuesday Nov. 26, the same day the flyers were discovered.
When asked what measures were taken to increase safety on campus, Lewter said that the university would be installing new high-definition cameras around campus. While attendees and panelists were in favor of more security cameras, there was still a demand for more.
“If we’re going to deal with this, we don’t need security cameras. We need to utilize education,” Barber said.
Education was further discussed in more specific terms: understanding what exactly white supremacy is and enforcing education in controversial topics like this. Its important that we educate in these topics in the classroom and by using student-led groups on campus.
At this point, Bailey opened up the floor to the audience. This portion of the panel was centered around the legal obligations that guide university procedures. The university is required to be viewpoint-neutral, which means that the university can’t restrict someone from doing something based on the specific viewpoint portrayed by one’s actions.
“In a public institution, anything the university does has to constitute what the state does because we are seen as an arm of the government,” Lewter. said.
Conversations were directed back towards education and the steps UTM will take in the future. Now that the person who placed the flyers has been identified, the university will ensure he does not return to campus. By coming back, he will be violating campus solicitation rights.
Lewter said that the priorities will lie in Student Affairs. This would start in student groups and gens classes, and would make diversity training a requirement for PEP leaders and campus residential assistants. The university is looking at bringing trained professionals to educate students, faculty and administration.
Audience members suggested certain student and faculty behaviors be reinforced, which Lewter cleared up by discussing the right to free speech. Legally, the school cannot prevent a student from passing out material unless it violates harassment policies. Lewter said that this is why we should have the bias incident report.
The group of students and faculty will meet again in March to discuss progress and future procedures.
