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vol. LXXI no. XVIII
THE HATE ISSUE
This past year our community has been hit with multiple incidents of racism and discrimination. Now, a little more than a year out from the first event last year — the posting of a racist note on the door of a Cougar Village apartment — The Alestle is taking a look back at what has happened, how our campus feels about these incidents and what’s being done to prevent them. @thealestle @thealestle alestlelive.com The Alestle | Bre Booker / The Alestle
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RYAN BIERI editor-in-chief
MIRANDA LINTZENICH managing editor BRIDGET CHRISTNER lifestyles editor
HANNAH MILLER sports editor KAIT BAKER opinion editor
BRE BOOKER multimedia editor
KALLI MORRIS social media editor MADDI LAMMERT TREVOR OLIVER TYLER PLETSCH DARIAN STEVENSON reporters
JAKOB RUFFNER photographer ANNA GASKIN BROOKE HILL copy editors ERICA GREEN podcast producer JOANN WEAVER graphics manager CLAIRE FUESTING CRISHAWNA NASH DELENA STOKES office secretaries ANGIE TROUT office manager TAMMY MERRETT program director Have a comment? Let us know! opinion@alestlelive.com The w Campus Box 1167 Edwardsville, Ill. 62026-1167 Letters to the Editor Policy: The editors, staff and publishers of the Alestle believe in the free exchange of ideas, concerns and opinions and will publish as many letters as possible. Letters may be submitted at the Alestle office: Morris University Center, Room 2022 e-mail at opinion@alestlelive.com All hard copy letters should be typed and double-spaced. Letters should be no longer than 500 words. Include phone number, signature, class rank and major. We reserve the right to edit letters for grammar and content. Care will be taken to ensure that the letter’s message is not lost or altered. Letters to the editor will not be printed anonymously except under extreme circumstances. We reserve the right to reject letters.
timeline of hate crimes and administrative responses Sept. 13 A racially charged note was left on an apartment door in Cougar Village.
Sept. 15 University administration responded with a campus-wide email. “A reward of a semester’s tuition and fees is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.” An “immediate response team” was created for hate and bias on campus.
week of Sept. 16 Sept. 22 The Confederate Flag was painted on the Rock on the Stratton Quadrangle.
Sept. 23 University administration sent a campus-wide email. Administrators denounced retaliation profanity on The Rock and addressed the Confederate Flag incident. Facilities Services painted over the message.
Oct. 6
Nov. 30
Sept. 26
OCT. 1
Posters were placed on public bulletin boards on campus that espouse white supremacy.
A racist message was found written on a blackboard inside of Peck Hall room 0307.
University Housing reported vulgar and derogatory words written on a student’s vehicle in the Evergreen Hall parking lot.
University Police were notified that a Evergreen Hall resident’s car was damaged by a homophobic slur having been keyed on the hood. Student said the incident occurred the previous week.
Oct. 6 University administration sent an email denouncing racism and biogtry. Students were encouraged to contact the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs if other messages are discovered.
NOV. 30 University administration sent a campus-wide email denouncing message. Administrators believed the message was specifically trying to intimidate SIUE’s minority students, faculty and staff.
SEPT. 26
University administration sent a campuswide email about how police and the Bias Incident Response Team were conducting investigations.
Someone wrote a racial slur on a piece of paper and attached it to the license plate of a car parked in Lot 12.
OCT. 2 University administration sent out an email saying the first event could be related to a string of racial bias incidents. They said the second incident started as a prank among friends.
The name Alestle is an acronym derived from the names of the three campus locations of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: Alton, East St. Louis and Edwardsville. The Alestle is published on Thursdays in print and on Tuesdays online during the fall and spring semesters. A print edition is available every other Wednesday during summer semesters. For more information, call 618-650-3528. For advertising, email advertising@alestlelive.com.
Sept. 2017
Sept. 2017
OCT. 2017
Nov. 2017
SEPT. 2018
OCT. 2018 Source: alestle archives
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Erasing the Stigma provides a dialogue for African-American mental health concerns MADDI LAMMERT reporter
Realizing that African-American students often face unique challenges regarding mental health, the Black Student Union and the Black Graduate Student Association hosted the Erasing the Stigma event on Nov. 7. BSU president and senior integrative studies major Sariaya Phillips, of Chicago, felt compelled to host the event as a result of personal experiences. “I had a lot of personal things going on and I was struggling with my own mental health,” Phillips said. “I actually sought help from Counseling Services and re-evaluated my own self. I’m a natural leader, so I felt like if I’m going through something, then somebody else is going through
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the same thing.” Alexis Lambert, the Black Graduate Student Association president and a second-year graduate student in the college student personnel administration program from Rockford, Illinois, wanted to host a similar event with her organization. After talking to Phillips, the two organizations decided to co-sponsor the event. “We both had similar ideas and we both are similar organizations in terms of mission and purpose,” Lambert said. Students who attended the event were welcome to enjoy provided snacks while they participated in the open discussion. A panel of students and faculty members sat at the front of the room, and Phillips started the night by asking the panel to introduce themselves. “I feel like all of the panel-
ists are strong women and strong men, and they might still be figuring things out, but they are willing to open up and share with others and that’s something that most people can’t do,” Phillips said. “Those are the qualities that I was looking at when I decided to ask them [to take part in the panel].” A common theme throughout the discussion was how mental health is not commonly talked about within the African-American community. “Within the black community, we don’t talk about our mental health enough,” Phillips said. “We kind of shun it and make it seem as if it’s weak, embarassing or crazy. I definitely felt like it needed to be addressed.” This silence can be particularly harmful, especially because African-Americans may face unique
day-to-day struggles. “Some of the professionals and some of the students spoke to how being black every day is a struggle in and of itself,” Lambert said. “So when you’re a person who identifies as any minority, you are constantly having to describe who you are to others around you, to the majority.” One factor that has the potential to be taxing to college students is the process of code switching, which is appropriating how one speaks in order to adapt to the majority group. “For students, I feel like it takes a self-reflecting toll,” panelist and senior integrative studies and African American studies student Joshua Russell, of Chicago, said. “It really just places you into a point where you have to figure out who you are … at that point
exactly so that you can properly advocate what you want to do in life. It can be challenging mentally.” At the end of the night, Phillips left the Student Success Center feeling like her goal had been accomplished. “I think it went very well,” Phillips said. “I was a little skeptical that people wouldn’t share their personal experiences, but I think I broke that right away in the beginning by talking about my own experience, so I think that opened the door for people to feel safe and talk about what they’ve gone through which was what I wanted to do anyway; it was the purpose of the event.”
it’s always blowing up with either likes or comments whether it’s from college kids or community members in the Edwardsville area, so we’re pretty known on social media,” Dooley said. “I feel like we kind of have to, if a student is interested in joining a more conservative group on campus, we have to either table and they approach us, or we just get our name out there a little more.” Dooley doesn’t feel any discrimination toward College Republicans other than the general competitiveness of politics. “Not more than typical feelings of the other side of the aisle. Obviously, there’s a little bit of competition, but that’s politics in general. We compete with the College Democrats in terms of wanting to get more members or wanting to get more people at meetings, but I don’t think we’ve ever been singled out or anything like that,” Dooley said. Dooley wants people to know that College Republicans is a welcoming organization. “[I want people to know] that we’re an organization. We have meetings every other Tuesday, and we’re very welcoming to anyone that wants to come to the meetings; it’s not a closed group,” Dooley said. “And we’re a fun group, whether it’s something we’re doing at our meeting — I know last year we did a trivia game, and the winner got a gift card at our meetings. So we
always do different things and we go to different events out in the community, and I think our involvement with community members is pretty good. We do Lincoln Day dinners and things like that.” Junior cellular biology and genetics major Jacob Lesinski, of O’Fallon, Illinois, and community liaison of College Democrats believes the political climate is varied based on what students consider important. “Political climate is a little bit varied and contingent based on what you consider to be paramount. If we’re talking about demographics, I think there’s a fierce independent streak on this campus that is seperate from the two parties … I don’t think there’s as much clashing as people might like to perceive that there may be. We can get into debates and whatnot, but in all honesty, I’d say everything is quite amicable here on campus,” Lesinski said. Lesinski finds campus to be very open and he feels comfortable. However, some may have different perceptions of this. “[Campus] feels pretty open. Mind you this is anecdotal, but I haven’t had any professors attempt to impose their views on me. I’ve had professors that are very open, they talk about the spins in media and they talk about it from both positions from both what you can consider a liberal and conservative position … I feel fairly comfortable on campus with my beliefs,
I don’t know if that goes for everybody, obviously, but I would say it probably doesn’t because everybody has a different perception of how they’re feeling attacked or having their views discussed,” Lesinski said. Lesinski isn’t positive about how people feel on College Democrats because SIUE is a commuter campus, but notes that he is sure people don’t perceive negative things about them. “I’m never too certain exactly how people feel [about College Democrats] because it seems as if there’s been pretty positive reception; when Dick Durbin came we had quite a large crowd … It’s hard to [gauge] because we can’t talk to everybody because we are a commuter school. A lot of our students commute in and out and never have time to discuss these things. I’d say, in all honesty, we are not perceived as socialists and communists, which is good because we’re not,” Lesinski said. Lesinski doesn’t see discrimination against College Democrats. “I don’t see [discrimination against College Democrats] occuring that often, I can’t see it occurring from an institutional standpoint and I can’t think of a time that it has. I can see certain individuals saying we’re socialists or communists, but at the end of the day I don’t view that as scrutiny, it’s just a strawman,” Lesinski said.
Lesinski wants people to know that College Democrats is an organization seeking to put members of their political party into office. “I just want people to know that we’re an organization dedicated to endorsing and placing progressive individuals into our political government, into our political system, to enact policies that are able to benefit all of us at the end of the day and to produce the best opportunities available for everyone. Because, at the end of the day, that’s what’s most important about College Democrats. We like to have fun, and we like to enjoy ourselves, but what’s important is that we need to have political individuals that share our values in office, and that’s what we’ve dedicated ourselves to,” Lesinski said. Junior computer science, mathematics and German major Dakota Copple of Edwardsville, Illinois, finds the political climate to be calm and generally discussion-based. “As of right now, I’d say [the climate] is pretty calm … I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily hostile, but it’s not necessarily completely passive, either. Like, there’s still talk, but it’s not arguments, it’s more discussions,” Copple said.
safety features and plans, when they will be implemented and who will pay for them. “Walking at night is definitely scary. I used to run freshman year from Prairie Hall to the gym and running late at night was so scary. Now I know which of my keys are the sharpest and I keep my knife in my car,” senior physical science major from Centralia, Illinois, Abie Vahlkamp said. In September 2017, a Confederate flag was painted on the Rock in the Stratton Quadrangle, and a week following a racial slur was found on a student’s door in Cougar Village.
In November of 2017, a quote from the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Dred Scott v. Sanford case was left on a chalkboard in Peck Hall. The message was, “No person of African descent shall be citizen of the U.S. … nor were they ever intended to be. Dred Scott Decision - Google IT. What’s YOUR nationality? Million dollar question.” More recently, a homophobic slur was keyed into a white pickup truck in Evergreen Hall parking lot in October. Along with these multiple major incidents, others happened
around the county that have people on edge. Student government has taken it upon themselves to take safety walks during senate meetings where groups of the senate walk around campus looking for safety improvements. After some of the safety walks, it was found that multiple lights on trails were either barely lit or completely burnt out. “We are working to install new measures to improve the social climate here on campus,” freshman Senator from Detroit, Hannah Coleman said. Part of SG’s proposal to SIUE and SIUE Police is to maintain
the lights in and around campus and the emergency poles to make sure that everything is working properly. An idea addressed in the proposal is the implementation of cameras in the red lots. As of now, Student Government plans on funding these improvements. “I think more lights would definitely help. The lighting on the paths to the red lots is really dim and you feel like you’re walking in ‘The Twilight Zone.’ I think that would be a good start,” junior business administration student Adrianna Eberlin, from Brussels, Illinois, said.
MADDI LAMMERT 650-3527 @madison_alestle mlammert@alestlelive.com
SIUE’s political climate has a direct impact on campus life TREVOR OLIVER reporter
SIUE’s political climate is up for debate, especially between political parties. So, The Alestle took the time to speak to College Republicans and College Democrats to get their overall opinions on the current climate. Senior public relations major Ty Dooley, of Assumption, Illinois, and member of the SIUE College Republicans, believes that SIUE has a very open political climate. “Honestly, I think we’re pretty fortunate to be on a campus as open and as accepting as SIUE. We have some great political groups, like College Republicans, College Democrats; I believe we also have a Turning Point USA chapter, so I think the political climate is very open. You’re pretty free to express yourself. There’s not really much turmoil between the students; I get along with some of the College Democrats just as well as I would anyone,” Dooley said. Dooley feels many students may not know about College Republicans; they use social media as a tool to get students interested. “I feel like, honestly, a lot of people don’t know about us … Obviously, we’re always trying to get our name out there and try to have a big impact on social media, specifically Facebook. Being an admin on the Facebook page,
TREVOR OLIVER 650-3527 @toliver_alestle toliver@alestlelive.com
Student Government proposes plan to ensure safety of campus TYLER PLETSCH reporter
Racial and bias incidents are on a rise at SIUE and Student Government has put forth a plan of action to help comfort and improve the safety of students on campus. A proposal for student safety was passed by the Senate. The next cause of action will be to notify all SIUE students, faculty and staff. Student Government plans to send out an email shortly after Thanksgiving break, including how they plan to implement new
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Muslim Student Association President and senior psychology student Ramsha Durrani, of Edwardsville and Vice President of the Muslim Student Association and graduate student in the TESOL program Rima Abusaid, of Belleville, Illinois. | Bre Booker / The Alestle
Marginalized groups want more immediate action DARIAN STEVENSON reporter
Vandalism of two cars with written racial slurs, racist flyers, a vulgar message written on a classroom blackboard, a Confederate flag painted on the Rock and a threatening note left on someone’s dorm room door are among the incidents that were used to target minority students on campus. In the past two years on SIUE’s campus, discriminatory incidents have occurred multiple times, stirring concern, confusion and anger from students who want a solution from administration. Despite SIUE administration sending emails in an attempt to diminish concern and the investigations into those incidents, many students believe there isn’t enough being done to combat or stop hate crimes on campus. Sariaya Phillips, a senior integrative studies student with a focus on women studies and psychology and the president of Black Student Union, from Chicago, said her biggest concern involving the racial biases is the administration’s involvement. “I would definitely say what administration is not doing to combat [the incidents] is my biggest concern,” Phillips said. “We can tell them our problems all day long, but what are they going to do about them?” Phillips said year-long plans are trying to be implemented by certain administrators, when students are looking for immediate solutions. “When we spoke to [the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs] and told him about our issues, he heard what we had to say, but he only gave us one-to
two-year plans, meaning they specifically with racial biases,” wouldn’t happen until a year to McCarroll said. “I honestly don’t two years later and [Black Stu- feel there is a solution; there is dent Union] is like no, we need nothing the university can do that is going to satisfy all black to have it now,” Phillips said. Some students try to recog- people.” Rima Abusaid, a graduate nize administration’s efforts and student in the Teaching English say they are trying their best. Rony Reyes, a senior civ- as a Second Language program il engineering student and the and the vice president of the treasurer of the Hispanic Student Muslim Student Association, Union, from St. Louis, said he from Belleville, Illinois, said she feels as though administration is doesn’t see administration supat least making an effort to keep porting students to come to them about racial incidents. the biases under control. “I don’t really see a lot of “I’ve talked to administration before and they don’t seem to be completely careless or come off like they don’t care about it, they do care about the students,” Reyes said. “At least they’re trying; if they did nothing, then I would be really upset, but it seems they are trying to do something.” Braxton McCarroll, a senior business marketing and AHNNYSHIA HIBLER management student Senior business asministration student and the president of Collegiate 100, an auxiliary program of the 100 encouragement from the school Black Men of America, from in itself to encourage students Homewood, Illinois, said despite to come report such incidents,” some flaws, he sympathizes with Abusaid said. Abusaid said people who SIUE’s administration and understands the difficulty in dealing have expressed concerns to her don’t believe any solutions will with racial incidents. “Administration has their come from reporting an incident. “Most of the time when such shortcomings when it comes to dealing effectively with what’s incidents happen, we hear mostly going on, but I am one of the from students who go through few students, especially a black this that they are afraid to report student, who sympathizes for it,” Abusaid said. “They don’t administrative staff because I do know if their voices are going recognize that as a university, it’s to be heard, if they are going to not often as easy as people make be believed and most of the time it seem to address issues, more they feel like they are going to
be discredited, and if it happens with a staff member or professor they fear their grade is going to be at stake.” Ramsha Durrani, a senior psychology student and the president of the Muslim Student Association, from Edwardsville, said she experienced a racial bias with a professor. “I had an incident with a professor sophomore year, and I went to his office hours to go over homework and he just asked me out of the blue, ‘What’s your religion and are you from here,’ and that’s how the conversation started, and I said, ‘No I am not, and I am a Muslim,’” Durrani said. Durrani said the professor asked her demeaning questions about her religion. “He went on to say, ‘Do you agree with the stuff that’s happening and the stigma that’s stays with the name of Islam,’” Durrani said. “So, I asked him, ‘Do you know what Islam means?’ and he said. ‘Yeah it’s a violent religion,’ and I said, ‘No it actually means peace,’ and he said, ‘No it doesn’t.’” Durrani said she educated the professor on the meaning of Islam, but the relationship was broken. “It’s good to have resources and get information before you say anything else, but that was the first and last time I saw that professor,” Durrani said. “He broke that trust relationship between professor and student, because these are the people we are supposed to look up to, but if you give away this negative impression nobody would want to go and voice concerns to that
“ You can say anything you want to say, but I don’t carry myself in that way and a person shouldn’t judge me or make an assumption about me because of the color of my skin and not who I am as a person.
professor.” Not a lot of students know the process of reporting incidents and Abusaid believes it’s a part of the problem. “This is where the school is lacking, because they need to put it out there and tell the students, ‘Here is where you need to go to report,’” Abusaid said. Reyes said the Hispanic community has not been a target and he himself has never been a part of a racial bias, but he feels for the other communities on campus and believes education is needed to combat these incidents. “I feel sadness and discontent; the world has come far in terms of tolerance towards different ethnic groups, but at the same time it feels like we are taking a step backwards during these incidents,” Reyes said. “I feel the best way to combat race issues is education; allowing the other side to see what the other side is about and educating them, especially to get them to see their point of view or at least be tolerant of it.” Ahnnyshia Hibler, a senior business administration student and a member of Women Exceeding Expectations chapter of National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs Inc. and Black Student Union, from Chicago, said she can prove people wrong about the stereotypes referring to herself and others in her community by the way she carries herself. “I would use my knowledge and the way I represent myself,” Hibler said. “You can say anything you want to say, but I don’t carry myself in that way and a person shouldn’t judge me or make an assumption about me because of the color of my skin and not who I am as a person.”
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Member of NACWC and Black Student Union and senior business administration student Ahnnyshia Hibler, of Chicago. | Bre Booker / The Alestle
McCarroll said everyone is entitled to their opinions and he believes allowing the SIUE community to have an open conversation would benefit those who are ignorant. “Everybody’s opinion has a place and although you may not have a popular opinion it should still be heard and respected, even if you don’t agree with it, but there are constructive ways to voice your opinion without going the extra mile and vandalizing someone’s property,” McCarroll said. “A lot of the reasons people
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Treasurer of the Hispanic Student Union and senior civil engineering student Rony Reyes, of St. Louis. | Bre Booker / The Alestle
have biases towards other races is simply because of ignorance and the lack of education and it’s important to have people in an environment where they can communicate and talk freely.” McCarroll said he wants to see more funds go toward the groups that represent each ethnic group because they are the main resources for the diverse campus. “Realistically, I think [SIUE] really should be investing those resources into student organizations that are centered around that culture,” McCarroll said.
“Those student organizations are comprised of students and those people are the ones that are dealing with these issues day to day and can figure out more interactive or effective means of communicating with the black community and other communities, and from an administrative perspective, it’s very hard to get down to a student level to figure out what we need and then try to invest.” Phillips said she believes training students about racial incidents should be required just like the Not Anymore training.
President of Black Student Union and senior integrative studies major Sariaya Phillips, of Chicago. | Bre Booker / The Alestle
“Kind of like the sexual assault videos they could talk about and demonstrate different cultures and ethnicities and give a scenario of what could happen and just show what is appropriate and what is not,” Phillips said. “There’s no guarantee that people would actually take in the information and learn from it, but it would be just so [students] are aware and understand what makes us all different and it would also show administration is trying to do something.” Hibler said in order to create
change you have to start with the SIUE community. “If [the SIUE community] knew better they would do better; people don’t take the time out to know our history or our culture, so they aren’t really informed or have enough knowledge about [ethnic groups],” Hibler said. “You have to be the change to see the change.” DARIAN STEVENSON 650-3527 @dstevenson_alestle dstevenson@alestlelive.com
What do you wish people knew about your organization? “I wish they knew that we do a lot more than just events; we talk to actual administrators on campus and use the concerns that our members and other people at SIUE have and transfer it to [administrators] and basically work with them to see how we can improve the campus in general.”
Sariaya Phillips
“Religion is religion; it’s something that has its own values and rules, and one thing I would encourage people to find out, or even SIUE to know, is that at the end of the day we’re all here for the same reason. Islam is more than a religion; it’s just as normal as any other religion and the people are the same. Just because there are different beliefs doesn’t mean that we are a different species of people.”
Ramsha Durrani
“Come to one of our events. We’re always open to people coming to our events and any event that we have is open to everybody. Just come experience it, even if it is just for five minutes I think those five minutes might plant that little seed of change in you. That’s something HSU tries to advertise is inclusiveness.”
Rony Reyes
Black Student Union
Muslim Student Association
Hispanic Student Union
“As Muslims, our religion really encourages us to respect one another, be peaceful and help one another. It is not about violence like we see in the media. Islam is a religion that advocates for respecting other’s differences, even if we don’t have the same beliefs.”
“The overall goal of the Collegiate 100 is to positively impact the SIUE community, period. We offer resources that are available to all students — men, women, black, white, hispanic — whatever the race is the doors are open. It is not an only African-American organization, but we do recognize the fact that African-American males are underrepresented and overlooked specifically on the campus of SIUE.”
“The motto of our organization and our goals: our motto is ‘lifting as we climb,’ which encourages women empowerment and improving yourself.”
Rima Abusaid
Braxton McCarroll
Muslim Student Association
Collegiate 100
Ahnnyshia Hibler NACWC
LOCAL ROBOTICS EVENT BOOSTS HANDS-ON LEARNING. READ MORE AT ALESTLELIVE.COM page 6
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Center for Spirituality and Sustainability unifies different religious affiliations MADISON LAMMERT reporter SIUE’s Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, also known as the Fuller Dome, emphasizes the connections between people. The center’s mission is to illustrate how spirituality can bring people together, as perceived religious differences often drive people apart. The designer of the dome, R. Buckminster Fuller, was a philosopher, cartographer, geometrician and architect. He partnered with architect Shoji Sadao to create the building. According to Center for Spirituality and Sustainability Business Administrator Juli Jacobson, SIUE gave the center a 100-year land lease in 1970, and construction was completed by summer of 1971. Since then, the non-profit center has not received funding from SIUE or the state in its attempts to serve the community. “We are an inclusive spiri-
tual center; everyone is welcome here,” Jacobson said. The center hosts gatherings of all different faiths, including the Baha’is of Edwardsville, Buddhism and the Newman Catholic Community. The center also serves as a Muslim prayer space. All students are welcome to take part in these events, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. In accordance with Fuller’s philosophy, the center aims to draw parallels between spirituality and protecting the Earth. “Christians are taught that [the Earth] is their home; they’re supposed to take care of it and oversee it,” Jacobson said. “That teaching is also in other religions.” Despite this similarity, there are many disconnects between people of differing faiths. Robin Black-Rubenstein, director of the campus ministry, cites fear as a reason. “Fear creates walls, so when people are afraid to talk to oth-
Director of Campus Ministry Robin Black-Rubenstein leads a prayer reading during Fuller Dome’s Communal service November 7. | Bre Booker / The Alestle
er people and learn about their faith, they’re usually fearful for two reasons: they’re thinking that if they talk to someone else, that
“We are an inclusive spiritual center; everyone is welcome here. JULI JACOBSON Spirituality and Sustainability Business Administator
Fuller Dome.
| Bre Booker / The Alestle
person is going to try to change their faith or they fear that there’s going to be a disagreement,” Black-Rubenstein said. According to religious studies minor adviser and professor Saba Fatima, connecting with others outside one’s own religion can help solidify one’s own faith. “I think studying other religions helps us to see the nuances of our own religion; it helps us to see all of the ways that we didn’t see our own religion before,” Fatima said. While learning about other religions, one may also find more similarities than differences. “A lot of students don’t realize in terms of basic elements of faith that Islam, Judaism and Christianity have a lot more similarities than not,” Fatima said. “They think of … Islam as
something completely different, when it’s closer to the other two religions than other Eastern religions are.” Fatima encourages students to learn about other cultures and faiths by attending events sponsored by campus organizations, taking religious studies classes, diving into literature and making diverse groups of friends. “The core of most religions is about recognizing each other’s humanity, so I think that if [we] see those similarities instead of seeping [our]selves into misconceptions and that we cherish differences, this world would be a much better place,” Fatima said. MADISON LAMMERT 650-3527 @madison_alestle mlammert@alestlelive.com
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Gay-Straight Alliance pushes for understanding DARIAN STEVENSON reporter SIUE’s Gay-Straight Alliance student organization is putting a heavy emphasis on mutual respect after recent bias incidents on campus. Sara Simpson, a sophomore nursing student and the vice president of the GSA from Galatia, Illinois, is a strong advocate for respecting views among the SIUE community. “My biggest thing is just trying to understand [the LGBTQ community], even if you don’t agree with us at least try to see our point because [GSA] makes an effort to try to see everybody’s point of view,” Simpson said. GSA recently held an information panel on what to do if someone comes out to you, for coming out week, on Oct. 12. SIUE staff, faculty and students were able to ask questions and gain information about making a coming-out plan: what to do when someone comes out to you and receiving resources for transgender and nonbinary students. Simpson said a Christian group confronted the panel and GSA tried to answer their questions. “We held our panel during coming out week and a Christian group came up to us out of nowhere and spent an hour asking us questions regarding our religious beliefs and how that corresponded with LGBT identities,” Simpson said. “I am Christian and one of our other executive board members is Catholic, but they didn’t want to accept that we were gay, Catholic and Christian.” Some members of the Christian group tried to listen and understand while others tried to say they were sinning. Simpson still appreciated that she was able to try to teach them about the LGBTQ community. “We have been confronted by Christian groups on campus and we’ve made an effort to try and talk to them and tell them how we feel and have a civil conversation, so we just appreciate when people who don’t agree with us will at least try to see our side,” Simpson said. Webster Dyer, a senior geography student from St. Joseph, Missouri, who helped Bryon Pierson, a former student who advocated for the LGBTQ community last semester, present his Serenity Plan – a multi-step plan to better the LGBTQ community at SIUE over a two or three-year span. Webster said he would combat prejudices of the LGBTQ community using education. “I believe hate and prejudices comes from ignorance, and so I think the best way to combat prejudices is just to prove to people who have these views is that we are similar to them and that we are human beings just like they are; we are normal people too,” Dyer said. Simpson said the incident that has really impacted her negatively was with the preacher that used to come to preach a sermon on the Straton Quadrangle concerning the sins of homosexuality. “One preacher used to come every week on campus with his megaphone and one day he preached about homosexuality being a sin and it was one of his last sermons,” Simpson said. “[The
preacher] had been on campus a lot and had never gone that far, but after he did do that, he was reported and I believe they didn’t allow him back on campus.” Lydia Durr, a senior psychology student and the president of GSA said another form of respect is taking into consideration a person’s preference with pronouns. “If someone tells another person they use they/them pronouns, and calling them she/her or he/ him instead of their preferred pronouns is really rude and can really hurt that person’s feelings because it shows that you don’t really care,” Durr said. Durr said being a part of the LGBTQ community is not a choice and a lot of people are not aware of that. “It’s important for them to know that it’s not a choice, I hear that all the time that people think being gay is a choice, but really it’s not,” Durr said. “You can choose who you date, but that is different from who you are actually attracted to romantically, sexually or both.” After the bias incident involving a homophobic slur keyed into the hood of a student’s car, Dyer said he believes administration has done a good job of trying to find who is responsible for the incidents. “I think administration is doing all that they can,” Dyer said. “I followed last year’s administration’s follow-up when a student had a slur posted on their door and I think they did a good job of giving the student who was hurt the proper attention and also doing the best they could to go after whoever it was that did that.” GSA has been working to let SIUE know they are accepting of all identities and encourage anyone who supports the LGBTQ community to get involved. “We’re trying to be active and get people involved and we’re open to all different kinds of identities; it doesn’t just have to be gay,” Simpson said. “Even if you don’t have an identity yet or you are just questioning, you can still come to the group and learn.” Durr said a name change to the organization will possibly be made to make it more inclusive. “We are talking about changing the name to True Colors Alliance,” Durr said. “With GSA, it tends to out people right away even though it’s supposed to be open for allies too, but generally if you’re a part of GSA people are like, oh, Gay-Straight Alliance, you must be gay, and that can really out people when they don’t want to be outed.” Simpson encourages those who are confused about their identity or are just interested in learning to come to a GSA meeting. “We encourage them just to come to the meetings and get involved with members so they can know they are in a safe space,” Simpson said. “We can help them find information if they have any questions and we’re very open, especially the executive board, with sharing our stories how we came to realize our identities and struggles we went through to help people know they are not alone.” DARIAN STEVENSON 650-3527 @darian_alestle dstevenson@alestlelive.com
IS SIUE LGBTq-FRIENDLY?
along with available resources on campus THERE ARE
163
ALLIES ON CAMPUS IN TOTAL INCLUDING STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTY ON CAMPUS
*As of 10/25/18
GENDER NEUTRAL BATHROOM LOCATIONS PECK HALL
BATHROOM IS MARKED AS “FAMILY RESTROOM” IN 200 WING OF BLDG.
ENGINEERING BLDG.
campus pride index
4
out of 5 stars
The Campus Pride Index is an overall indicator of institutional commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policy, program and practice. How is this calculated?
lgbtq-friendly breakdown by inclusion factors lgbtq policy inclusion 3.5 of 5
lgbtq support & institutional commitment lgbtq academic life
4 of 5
BATHROOM IS MARKED AS “SHOWER” IN BASEMENT
lgbtq student life
MUC
lgbtq housing & residence life
5 of 5
BATHROOM IS LOCATED IN STARBUCKS
LUKAS ANNEX
BATHROOM IS MARKED AS “FAMILY RESTROOM” ACROSS FROM ROOM 1625
WHAT IS A
SAFE ZONE? Safe Zone is a campus-wide network of individuals who can act as resources for members of the campus community who have questions or concerns related to LGBTQ issues. Safe Zone members can be recognized by prominently displaying the Safe Zone logo, thereby highlighting their visibility to the University community. Courtesy of the SIUE Safe Zone Manual
5 of 5
lgbtq campus safety
2.5 of 5
5 of 5
lggbtq counseling & health 4 of 5
lgbtq recruitment & retention efforts
3.5 of 5
Courtesy of the Campus Pride Index
special ally/SAFE ZONE training
If you would like to request Safe Zone Training outside of our normal fall and spring semester training dates please submit a Safe Zone Training Request Form. For additional information or question, contact Dr. Shelley Price-Williams at shewill@siue.edu.
We Are One Grant The MUC is sponsoring 4 grants of $250 each fiscal year (July-June). Preference for grant dollars will be given to programs that have an educational component with an emphasis on developing learning and understanding for issues related to the LGBTQ community. For more information contact Safe Zone Past Chair Rex Jackson at 618-650-4627 or rjackso@siue.edu.
Courtesy of the SIUE Safe Zone
JoAnn Weaver / Alestle
alestlelive.com
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thursday, 11.15.18
Portraying mainstream blackness in cinema - a long journey that’s finally paying off JOANN WEAVER graphics manager JAKOB RUFFNER photographer Over the last few years, mainstream film has finally begun to widely explore black culture. Releases like “Black Panther” in early 2018 have reinforced the emergence of black cinema in America, just like 2016’s “Moonlight” allowed further success in “BlacKkKlansman” and “The Hate U Give” later this year. The undeniable financial success of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” provided much-needed momentum for black directors in a predominantly-white movie industry. The film’s $1.34 billion revenue paved the way for Spike Lee’s tour-de-force, “BlacKkKlansman,” which chronicles the fight against white supremacy and the KKK in the ‘70s – led by the first black police chief in Colorado Springs, Ron Stallworth. Klansman is dramatized, throwing in some great humor and jabs at our current political shift, though more importantly, it gives insight into how African-Americans face racism in present times. While set just after the success of the civil rights movement, the racial climate of small-town Colorado is uncannily familiar to today, which is cemented in possibly the most impactful ending montage to grace cinema this decade. In wake of Coogler’s success, Lee took advantage of a new opening for true-to-life films to depict black life in America by bringing light to racial volatility in the Trump era. “BlacKkKlansman” makes a point to convey this cry for help not through themes of separation, but of inclusion and cooperation between racial divides. It isn’t obvious at first, though Stallworth’s hard-fought struggle against racial discrimination comes between a true comradery with other diverse officers at his station. 2016’s award-winning “Moonlight” acted as a critical
Young movie-goers wait to attend a screening of the movie, “Black Panther,” on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. | Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
stepping stone in desegregating the movie industry. Barry Jenkins’ brainchild further dissolved the invisible wall between black and white viewers while tackling and artfully portraying essential and tough issues that plague black America and the rest of the country. “Moonlight” showed a real portrayal of what life looks like for some black youth in destitute urban areas around the country. Children who grow up in impoverished communities are often exposed to gun violence and drug abuse at a young age. The main character, Chiron, watches his mother struggle with drug addiction in his younger years. The film illustrates the complex relationship Chiron develops with a male figure who helps raise him. “Moonlight” offered a way to break out of cliche black character tropes and to open a conversation of how life is different for
minority groups. Chiron’s story deals with abandonment, sexuality and masculinity. These themes are usually accompanied by a stigma within the black community. It is often thought since black people have survived the middle passage, slavery and outright racism, anything else is frivolous and can be handled without therapy. “Moonlight” was a film that while dealing with tough universal themes, can apply to other people regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, and opened up the door for productive conversation on problematic rhetoric. Author Angie Thomas’ breakout novel, “The Hate U Give,” is described as a love letter to the late Tupac Shakur. The film adaptation directed by George Tillman, Jr. is no exception. The book and film both follow the story of Starr, a black teenager who witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her
friend in front of her. The story follows Starr, played by actress Amandla Stenberg, who is on a journey of coping with the loss while trying to do what is right in her mind following tragedy and testifying in front of a grand jury to fight for justice for her friend. The film is timely with the long list of unarmed black teenagers killed at the hands of white police officers, often times placed on administrative leave after their deaths. The movie portrays both sides of the issue: the perception of the slain teenager being a thug or a hoodlum while the police officer is the “hero,” or the unarmed teenager killed mercilessly by a white police officer. “The Hate U Give” takes on prejudice when Starr talks to an officer and during their discussion, the officer says that he would be less likely to use force
with a white person compared to pulling over a black person. The film mimics real life in a way that all people can watch and assess the biases they have toward different groups of people. Additionally, “The Hate U Give” looks at interracial dating through a critical lens. Starr lives in a predominantly black neighborhood while attending a predominantly white suburban high school. She has a white boyfriend and a father that would make the Black Panther Party proud. The film took time to show how resistant families can be toward dating outside of their race, from a viewpoint not seen much on the big screen. Films about black culture have become more progressive. There are conversations about systemic racism and white supremacy that need to be held today. The art is reflective of today’s political climate and state of affairs.
Book Review:
‘The Hate U Give’ is a read you won’t hate
TREVOR OLIVER reporter Angie Thomas’s debut novel “The Hate U Give” is a young adult novel that is relevant, well written and worth your time. “The Hate U Give” deals with tragedy in a way that’s generally unseen in young adult novels. Don’t let the genre trick you — the novel transcends many YA tropes and Thomas excels in creating very human characters, telling an engaging story and weaving a message that is absolutely necessary in today’s political climate. The novel centers around 16-year-old African-American Starr Carter and her quest for justice after the death of her friend, Khalil, a black boy who is unjustly
shot and killed by police. News of Khalil’s death soon spreads like wildfire throughout the country. Of course, this brings up the Black Lives Matter movement and a heavy theme about police brutality against black people. The plot shines in just about every way, and to give any more details would spoil a wild ride. One of Thomas’s greatest strengths is the way she writes dialogue. No character in this novel feels like a generic teen. Instead, they each have a distinct voice and a message behind what they’re saying. They feel like real people rather than just characters created to fill space. Carter’s code-switching, the act of changing one’s language based on context, is one of the
most fascinating parts of the novel. She lives in a poor black neighborhood, Garden Heights, but attends a predominately white private school, Williamson Prep. On top of this, she’s dating a white man, Chris, leading to interesting discourse between her family and friends when things become more heated. Importantly, the code-switching never becomes jarring. Instead, it feels natural and incredibly human. Toward the climax of the novel, things pick up quickly, and it becomes a page turner you won’t want to put down. Thomas’s encapsulating prose is a joy to read. With a great plot to boast, “The Hate U Give” shines in just about every aspect. “The Hate U Give” is tragic,
but uplifting. Carter is a character worth rooting for. The book seeks to inspire and empower just as much as it seeks to educate. It can show tragedy and loss in a heartbreaking way while also equipping readers with skills to fight injustice. Carter is one of the strongest protagonists to appear in a recent YA novel. Unlike many YA novels, Carter isn’t fighting aliens or trying to survive against 23 other kids. Instead, she’s trying to make her voice heard to a population that isn’t listening. She’s trying to show the injustices of our criminal justice system, which is a hard task even for general adults, but she powers through every time.
The book is relevant due to tragic, horrid cases of police brutality and terrible injustices in America. Whether you’re thinking about Tamir Rice, Michael Brown or Sandra Bland, Carter’s story resonates deeply with real life tragedies. The story of Carter standing up for the unjust death of Khalil is one that people can relate to and look to find a cause in, especially with current events. “The Hate U Give” should not be missed. With a movie out now, it is the perfect time to pick it up and have a great weekend read. TREVOR OLIVER 650-3527 @trevor_alestle toliver@alestlelive.com
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opinion
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Being politically correct is important HANNAH MILLER sports editor
On Oct. 11, The Alestle reported on recent “bias incidents” on campus. Unidentified suspects first wrote derogatory messages on a student’s car and, six days later, keyed homophobic slurs into another car’s door. The campus hasn’t seen any more reported incidents since then. However, these events are punctuated by a harmful PR strategy which waters down hate crimes to “bias incidents” when notifying the student body. SIUE’s Bias Incident Response Team is in its infancy and is a step in the right direction toward a safer campus. The university seems to attempt to cover itself from bad press while these crimes, if solved, provide an opportunity for the administration to cite true improvement to the campus environment. The naming of “bias response team” isn’t at fault; the team is named appropriately for a broad variety of crimes committed on campus. The team is at fault for not reporting the events in total sincerity to those it matters to the most: students. Bias response teams at colleges
around the country are doing their job, responding, investigating and punishing the perpetrators, if caught. At SIUE, their job is critical, and would be more noticeable if students and staff had more information on the crimes the team responds to. The only true purposes in titling an event as a “bias incident” are minimizing fear among students and staff, and providing a general response for notification if the details aren’t known. The latter doesn’t apply a majority of the time, due to our police force’s response time. The team’s notification emails, sent to everyone on campus, note the two recent reports as “Bias Incidents” in their headers. They only gloss over what actually occurred, failing to mention the messages left either time. If their reports and student notifications title these crimes as bias incidents, hateful crimes will go unnoticed by most of the student population when scrolling through their daily email feed. The Bias Incident Response Team should take a step further with their student notifications, condemning the crime while providing necessary information
to university members. Any light shed on crimes against marginalized groups will only serve to further the fight against hate, validating their claims of division on campus — helping their struggle against bias at SIUE. Any homophobic, racist or downright discriminatory act on campus should be directly called such when notifying students. Those perpetrating these actions and the incidents last year, such as the racist note left on a student’s door in Cougar Village and the racist message left on a blackboard in Peck Hall, are nothing short of cowards. The spread of hate and intolerance is nothing but an attempt to continue to suppress minority groups someone fears or hates just because they are different. It’s time we, and the university administration, make it clear hate and fear are never going to be welcome at SIUE. Our university can only achieve peaceful diversity if they speak openly and frankly about racist and homophobic crimes in its bounds, a step that will aid SIUE’s mission to repair divides.
I have heard friends and family complain about not being able to say anything without offending anyone and having to avoid comments that could be deemed “politically incorrect.” To this I say — get over it. “Politically correct” has been defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated.” NPR said the phrase has changed meaning over time, and that the term, “has been used to describe what is politically wise, and it has been employed as ironic self-mockery.” The latter definition has been used to mock the idea that people are offended by others sharing their beliefs on topics such as gender, race, sexual orientation or religion. However, some topics have politically correct sides and politically incorrect sides for a reason — the politically incorrect sides usually marginalize and spread hate about already oppressed groups. We should stop worrying about what’s correct or incorrect and instead focus on what language and beliefs stand in the name of basic human respect. The racial and homophobic bias incidents that have occurred here have shown that not everyone on campus respects each other’s differences, and as long as SIUE administration fails to implement any real solutions to prevent incidents like these from happening, the campus atmosphere will only get worse. The next time your white friend complains about not being able to say racial slurs because they have to be politically correct, you might choose to remind them about the centuries of oppression African-Americans faced, and still face, in this country and the weight that word carries with it. Hopefully, these conversations will serve as a reminder that we should be politically correct not just because it’s socially expected of us, but because it shows that we respect one another as fellow human beings. So instead of just avoiding racist, homophobic and intolerant words, we should aim to eliminate racism, homophobia, sexism and intolerance from the world. To those who aren’t used to checking themselves and their language, I urge you to consider the context your words carry and the impact they have on others and then decide if you want to say them. While it’s true that sometimes you can’t avoid hurting everyone, maybe you can avoid hurting one more person than necessary.
BRE BOOKER multimedia editor
place. Here’s a simple way to keep yourself from telling an offensive joke: if the person at the center of the joke would be hurt if they overheard it, there’s no reason to believe it is funny. If you BRE BOOKER would still tell multimedia editor the joke, but know that person would still find it hurtful, you need to take a step back and look at what’s making you harbor such hatefulness. Being a jerk
isn’t a great way to make friends. Now, more than ever, we all need to realize how damaging words can be. Words don’t just spread hate, they create it. Within the realm of politics, words have turned into actual bombs. Someone took what he heard too far and decided the people who were critical of the current government were the enemy. “This division, this hatred, this ugliness — it has to end. Words matter,” Former vice president Joe Biden said when
reflecting on the bombs sent to him and many other member of the Democratic party. Our country is extremely divided right now, but I believe if we would stop attacking each other with words, we might be able to work on our problems without having to put defenses up. I encourage everyone, including myself, to stop building walls when it comes to unfamiliar situations. Instead, make connections. Work to understand the differences between yourself and someone else and use it to help you grow. The only way to stop hate is to think about our own actions and be the change we want to see around us. We should be spreading love our words instead of hate.
alestle view
“Bias Incidents” should be reported as hate crimes
Was it a joke or are you just racist? Don’t let your words spread hate I’m sick of hearing people make awful comments about other people, only to cover it up with some excuse, telling someone not to be so sensitive because “it was just a joke.” Was it really a joke or was it said because of a certain prejudice someone is holding? If a joke attacks a group of people, whether it is about race, sexual orientation, appearance, gender, disabilities or something else along those lines, it is no longer something worth laughing about. In order to find these jokes funny, you have to hold a certain biased opinion regarding that person or group in the first
“Within the realm of politics, words have turned into actual bombs.
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OPINION
thursday, 11.15.18
Racism through the perspective of an African-American graduate student JOANN WEAVER graphics manager
No place in the U.S. is exempt from racism, especially SIUE and the Metro East. I live in a world where society has taught me to accommodate the comfort of others before my own. Whether it be listening to white people use the N-word in various settings, watching in dismay as white people thrust their fingers into my moisturized kinks and coils or responding with shock to police officers harassing me and my friends, I am no stranger to being on the receiving end of racism. Six percent of campus’ graduate-student population is made up of African Americans. An even smaller percentage is female African-American graduate students. I was taking a research methods course last spring. My topic focused on social media motives and whether or not people care about credible sources in an era of fake news. My professor liked the idea. I told him that I wanted to focus on an underrepresented African-American student population on campus. African-American undergraduate students make up 15 percent of the 14,000 students in attendance here. He discouraged me from using this demographic initially. He was worried they would not have cellphones or access to social media platforms for my research study. In the research I completed leading up to my proposal, including a study from the Pew Research Center on Internet & Technology, there were no statistics to suggest
African Americans in college were unable to access technology like their white counterparts. Everywhere you go on campus, everyone is looking at a phone screen. There was no statistical basis for what he was insinuating about the black demographic on campus. I went on to complete my research without a hitch. This type of situation is what I envision when I think of racial bias incident on campus. Leaving a racist note, painting a Confederate flag on the Rock or scratching a homophobic slur onto a car go beyond a racial bias incident and need more attention than just a strongly-worded email. Here is a story to illustrate what it is like to be a black person in America. Just recently, I left SIUE and drove home. I live approximately 25 minutes away from campus. I exited the highway, and when I made a left turn into my neighborhood, a car made a sharp left turn to follow me. Initially, I thought this was a car that was going to drive around me. Whoever was operating the vehicle was riding my bumper to the point that I thought they would rear-end me. It occurred to me after five minutes that I was being followed. I started making random turns and the car behind me continued its pursuit. My mother always warned me about being followed. I was terrified to the point where I didn’t think to call 911. I eventually gave up and drove home, parked my car and turned off my headlights, all the while the car was following my every move. To my dismay, when the car pulled up beside me, I saw it was a police car. I
Doug Griswold illustration showing white man looking fearfully at black man on street; in background is poster showing smiling white man and black man embracing. Doug Griswold / TNS
had done nothing wrong. I initially drove the speed limit, but drove five miles over the limit in an effort to get away from the police car following me. I had no idea it was a police officer following me the entire time. The officer proceeded to ask me why I had been driving like it was an effort to get away from him. I didn’t want him to think that I was up to no good so I told him I feared for my life, I did not know it was a police car following me and I had been working all day. I also added that I was a full-time student just trying to make it home. The officer said he should have arrest-
ed me that night. He went on to say that it would have been a shame if there would have been a news story about my arrest the next day and told me to have a good night. The only encounter I have had with a police officer that resulted in legal action is one speeding ticket. To this day, I do not believe that all police officers are bad. This does not excuse the fact that black people suffer greatly at the hand of police brutality. From the perspective of an African-American graduate student, I believe that change starts in the hands of those who will shape the future. America is in desperate need of more tolerance and understanding.
A “blue wave” won’t combat the rise of hatred within American politics BROOKE HILL copy editor
Politicians cannot be relied on to combat the epidemic of hatred and bigotry. There is simply no mainstream political party in the U.S. devoted to protecting the interests of the underprivileged. The U.S. has a long history of bigoted policies. Recently, many people have been surprised that the common euphemisms used in defending these policies such as “states’ rights” and “jobs issues” are disappearing in favor of more direct appeals to nationalism, racism, classism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia. A lot of people are optimistic about the election of more liberal representatives. They believe this will help to protect against discriminatory policies. For those people, this is an exciting time. It’s important to remember the distance between the groups being targeted and the representatives promising to pro-
tect them. The Democratic party’s history of progress is, at best, modest and extremely gradual. The policies they create are usually appeals to public image rather than to constituents. They intend to stop riots by restoring some people’s faith in the system and shrinking the number of radicals. Activists have put themselves at extreme risk and used tremendous amounts of energy to fight against the political system before every one of these rulings, only to be met with partial solutions. When policies allow for those seeking asylum to be deported and killed by foreign powers, prisons to enslave people, stripping them of their rights and forcing them to work for free and murderers to use “gay and trans panic” defenses in 47 states to avoid charges, there is no room for compromise. These laws must be overturned outright as soon as possible, because lives are at stake. Most Democratic politicians are still devoted to slow compromise, a goal which
few Republican lawmakers seem to share. The day following the midterm elections, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was already calling to meet conservatives halfway. “We will strive for bipartisanship. We believe that we have a responsibility to seek common ground where we can,” Pelosi said. This reflects a similar attitude to former President Barack Obama’s remarks to Howard University in 2016. “If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral purity, but you’re not going to get what you want,” Obama said. When contrasted with the attitude of political opposition, the problem is clear. The far right is not interested in compromise and will not ask permission to violate people’s rights. They are more interested in winning. As President Trump stated, “We’re
gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning, and you’ll say ‘[...] Mr. President, it’s too much!” and I’ll say ‘No, it isn’t. We have to keep winning. We have to win more.’” Meeting fascists and racists halfway does more harm than good. Enabling the spread of hate speech only hurts groups targeted by hatred. When people are asked to sacrifice their rights, they have nothing to negotiate. The only choice is to fight back. The good news is that ordinary citizens can still change things for the better, but only through direct action. Call out bigotry wherever you see it. You don’t have to debate, but let people know their hate is not welcome. Refuse to compromise or tolerate hateful behavior. Disrupt, protest, and if possible, seek legal action. Remember how many lives are at stake. If fewer spaces welcome hateful ideology, fewer people will accept it. Ordinary people must look out for each other at all costs, because nobody else will.
What is your experience with discrimination on campus?
“So it was my first semester freshman year. I was really excited; I was in my lab and things were going well … It was this one particular day, I went to the bathroom and when I came back I started writing on my paper when I noticed that somebody wrote ‘grilled n—’ on my paper. When I asked my TA if she could compare handwritings to see who did it, she said that wasn’t her jurisdiction and that I would have to go to the dean and have him do that because she can’t during class.” Kiara Coker Sophomore biology student from Chicago
“There’s been one or two times, I’ll be walking to my small Bible study group and have somebody comment on my Bible. They’ll say something like ‘nice Bible, bro!’ sarcastically. Other than that, I’m a white boy; I don’t have much trouble fitting in.” Dawson Gentry Freshman elementary education student from Paducah, Kentucky
“I haven’t personally experienced a lot of discrimination on campus. However, I know a lot of my friends have, mostly when it comes to the resources offered on campus. Specifically when it comes to first-generation African-American students, I feel like they have a lot of barriers to overcome. I could go on for a long time about that, but I think the new cultural and diversity center upstairs in the MUC, I think it’s a good start, but I think our campus needs to pour more resources into its African-American and minority students so they can have the same chances and the same retention rates as other students.” Rodrick Robins Graduate theological student from St. Louis
“I’m from just outside Chicago and coming down here, I grew up in a predominately black and hispanic town and coming down here, it’s a lot different. You have people coming from all over the state and when you put them all in one area, obviously not everyone is going to jive well; there’s people who haven’t been around people of other backgrounds, so I feel like that definitely has an affect on it.” Thomas Ortense Junior business administration and CMIS student from Bolingbrook, Illinois
thursday, 11.15.18
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sports
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Spending, revenue not equal across men’s and women’s sports TYLER PLETSCH reporter
Men’s athletic teams bring in about six times the revenue of women’s teams, while players on women’s teams receive an average of nearly $5,000 more in scholarships per year, according to a budget and revenue breakdown supplied to The Alestle by SIUE Athletics. Since SIUE entered NCAA Division 1 there has been great success throughout athletics, both on the women’s and men’s sides. Since becoming active during the 2012-2013 academic year, SIUE has played 11 Conference or Tournament Championships and has had 14 athletes sign professional contracts. The revenue athletics brings in from women’s and men’s teams is heavily skewed primarily due to attendance. “With our men’s soccer games 1,500 to, with homecoming, which is almost 4,000 [people] a crowd. Our largest attendance to a women’s soccer game is about 250,” Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt said. During the 2017-2018 academic year, all six women’s teams brought in $81,200, while the six men’s teams brought in $483,241. “Male athletes, once they hit the next level, tend to generate a lot more than female athletes,” senior mass communications student and club sports broadcaster Isaac Forney, from Brimfield, Illinois, said. The athletic department is always searching for new ways to boost attendance with an emphasis on women’s games. This year, coaches for women’s teams can be seen around the Stratton Quadrangle and in the MUC advertising their home games. With new policy changes allowing the sale of alcohol at NCAA games,
there will be trial runs at men’s basketball games. “It’s just how everybody associates sports — they think men’s teams. That’s how we are raised, that’s what is shown on TV,” senior pharmacy student and former club soccer forward, from Freeburg, Illinois, Kristen Ingold said. Of the 14 athletes who
signed professional contracts, 11 were male and 13 finished their degrees. There are a total of 134 men on SIUE’s rosters with baseball having the most with 35, and golf having the least at nine. The women’s teams had a total of 103 athletes with soccer having the most at 30, and tennis having the least with seven.
| Graphic by Miranda Lintzenich / The Alestle
According to the operational budget, the average cost for each athlete on the men’s side is $4,791.04 while the women average $4,980.58. Coaches are allowed to divide the budget they are given. Most coaches for women’s teams put more of their budget toward scholarships, while men’s coaches put more toward other expenses.
Women average a higher scholarship budget at $14,420.76 per athlete. The average scholarship for men is $9,573.97. For the past 12 years, SIUE student athletes have maintained an average GPA above a 3.0. Out of all NCAA D1 institutions, SIUE has ranked in the top 70 for graduation success rates for the last four years.
Alcohol to be sold at men’s home basketball games this season DARIAN STEVENSON reporter
Students who love to partake in the excitement of basketball games can now enjoy a domestic beer along with it. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jeffrey Waple said domestic beers with a 4.2 percent alcohol content or less will be served at men’s basketball games. The 2018 men’s basketball season will be the first to sell alcohol at any athletic events at SIUE. NCAA passed a rule that allowed alcohol to be sold at athletic events. As a result, Waple said the board of trustees began to consider alcohol sales at sporting events a little over a year ago. “Our board of trustees, probably about a year to a yearand-a-half ago, had a resolution
that allowed the campus to determine their own policies and procedures for selling alcohol at athletic contests,” Waple said. The committee, the chancellor’s council, got together to discuss possible ideas to allow sales of alcohol in a controlled setting. “A couple of drafts later, no pun intended, we are introducing [alcohol sales at men’s basketball games] as a pilot,” Waple said. Contrary to popular belief, Waple said SIUE is not a dry campus. “I think it’s a part of this fallacy or rumor that SIUE is a dry campus, but it really isn’t,” Waple said. “It hasn’t really ever been.” If a student is 21 they can consume alcohol in their residence hall room. Events such as guest speakers, social gatherings and tailgating on campus can in-
clude alcohol as well. Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt said alcohol sales will take place at men’s basketball games only, because of the financial aspects. “It’s an economic decision; it is attendance driven,” Hewitt said. “This is an institutional decision. I agree with the logic to do it. It has been successful at our sister school, as our revenue generation. Obviously, everybody’s thought [is] ‘how do you generate more revenue?’” The decision to not serve alcohol at women’s basketball games was because of attendance. “When you look at what expense is related to it: security, number of bodies, et cetera, we have to have a return of so much. The probability at a women’s game is very unlikely that
we would meet that return; we would be losing money,” Hewitt said. “So, that was the decision why not to have it at an individual women’s game.” The crowd women’s basketball games generally draws in was taken into consideration. “The demographics of the crowd are different. You can look at all kinds of research and extrapolate what kinds of people are going to want to buy a beer. Women play at some odd times too, at their choice,” Hewitt said. “We had a game play at 2 p.m. Sunday. How many people are going to buy a beer? It’s not like going to pro-football. It’s not a planned social activity as much as it is they’re really there to watch women’s basketball.” Jake Brown, a senior software engineering student from
Edwardsville, said he would contemplate going to a men’s basketball game now that alcohol is being sold. “Now that alcohol is served at the games, it would provide SIUE students another option when it comes to social outings as well as an additional revenue stream for the university,” Brown said. Craig Ziegler, a senior mechanical engineering student from Troy, Illinois, said he doesn’t really attend games, but could see the excitement around alcohol being available at them. “I’m not really a fan of basketball, but I think it would probably boost some sales,” Ziegler said. “I’ve seen Snapchat stories of people excited about the game and now they can be served there too.”