Swastika painting upsets UNI community

A swastika was painted on a bench outside the Rialto Dining Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus Nov. 9 and 10, which had the tagline “F--- the Jews.”

Ignited by this act, students spread the word of an “open forum” via text messaging that would allow student voices to be heard concerning what was described as “acts of discrimination.”
   
“My initial reaction was (that the incident was) deeply upsetting to hear (that). So many students feel that they aren’t fairly treated here at UNI, and to hear that students don’t feel safe, and that they are being discriminated (against) in the classroom. Those things to me are just not acceptable,” said Northern Iowa Student Government President Adam Haselhuhn, a political communication major. 

Haselhuhn said after hearing what was discussed at the open forum, he intends to contact UNI President Benjamin Allen and the Provost’s Office to build future awareness.

Student organizers sent text messages to organize an assembly to address matters of discrimination and other happenings ranging from the presence of the swastika, verbal messages and incidents of exclusion.

Many students did not feel safe talking with the press about such matters.

UNI’s protection of its students and UNI’s reputation were also discussed.

“This institution needs to not worry so much about its image and more about things that happen to the students of this campus,” said retired Director of Financial Aid Roland Carrillo. “And that means when something like this happens, report it to the public.

“So instead of worrying too much about ‘oh my gosh, we have to clean it up,’ take pictures of it and show the community,” Carrillo added.

Dean of Students Jon Buse stressed the importance of reporting any racial discrimination incidents as they occur. Buse said he was notified of the swastika Nov. 9, but the UNI Critical Incident Team did not meet until Thursday.

The UNI Critical Incident Team is an interdisciplinary team that will respond to safety concerns and organize a response to keep the university moving forward.

“I believe in my heart we can do better, but clearly there are people in our community that don’t,” said Buse.

Buse was involved in notifying the UNI Critical Incident Team and he communicated with faculty about the swastika. Buse also said he will also provide support and encouragement to students.

“One thing that I know will happen is that people in the cabinet will be aware of these concerns and that is where I will start,” Buse said. “This is not one of those things we can solve in 24 hours, but we have to move and address this in a certain way.”   

Buse directed students to the UNI Bias Incident Report Forum, which can be found on the Diversity Matters Web site.

Once the form is filled out, the UNI Bias Response Team reviews it to determine appropriate action and referral.

“We need to recognize oppression as it operates and we have to work to correct it, especially in regards to race, nationality, sex orientation and gender identity,” Derk Babbit, senior history major, said. “We had so many student groups there, even a representative of students with disabilities. This is a wide conversation we need to have to prevent other violent acts against other student and faculty members.”

“It hurts my heart to hear that students have to face the same kind of discrimination that I witnessed in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Janet McClain, an instructor in the College of Education.

In attempt to address this, Allen sent out a mass e-mail to the student body on Thursday afternoon.

“During the past week, bias-related incidents have been reported to the Dean of Students Office and UNI Police. The incidents include an assault; racial slurs being shouted and objects thrown at students from a passing car; and most recently, slurs were spray-painted on university property,” the e-mail read.

Investigations of each of these incidents are currently underway. Support services have been offered to the individuals who reported the incidents and the vandalism has been removed.