Daily Egyptian TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SINCE 1916
VOL. 100 ISSUE 79
SIU police launch investigation after graffiti incident at Faner Hall
ANNA SPOERRE | @AnnaSpoerre
Students walking to class Monday may have seen a series of messages written on the walls of Faner Hall. The campus police department launched an investigation after they were notified of the estimated $3,000 in damages, SIU spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith said. She said the individual or individuals involved, if discovered, may face criminal charges for the graffiti, which is considered criminal damage to state property. Messages included, “Riot Proof...We’ll See,” on the east side of Faner Hall and, “You are not a loan? All Money to the administration,” on the building’s northwest end. Another read, “Debt rules everything around me, monthly, monthly bills y’all, May 2nd.” Goldsmith said the university is paying attention to social media and other outlets to see if any consistent messages show up across the board. She said the university has found no reason for individuals to be concerned. “We don’t have any reason to believe at this point that there is any particular focus to that particular message but we will continue to pay attention,” she said. Brad Dillard, associate director of facilities at SIU’s Physical Plant, said his staff hopes to have the vandalism removed by the end of Monday. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. Aidan Osborne | @AidanOsborne_DE SIU Physical Plant workers attempt to scrape off a sign Monday morning that was glued to the east side of Faner Hall. The sign read, “Riot Proof...We’ll See,” which was found Monday along with other graffiti.
Anna Spoerre can be reached at aspoerre@dailyegyptian.com or 618-536-3325.
Campus community’s Students demand search for response to racism Africana philosophy professor ANNA SPOERRE | @AnnaSpoerre
Seventy percent of faculty and 77 percent of students believe racism exists on campus, according to a straw poll conducted this month by the Daily Egyptian in response to recent racial incidents on campus. The anonymous poll, which ran April 15 through April 18, collected 1,293 responses — 44 from faculty and 1,249 from students. “I am a faculty member who has, on several occasions tried to bring up the issue of racism to my administration (Director and Dean) only to be disregarded,” one respondent wrote. “My program has very low inclusion of people of color and women, and yet, nothing is done. Racism is institutional, and it is personal at this university ... This threatens our students safety and feelings of belonging.” Others who commented defended the university. “I’ve personally never seen any sort of racially charged incident take place on campus,” one student wrote. “I think the university does more than enough to make sure we have an inclusive campus.” Sixteen percent of faculty and 19 percent of students who responded said they do not feel welcome on campus.
“I have friends that are scared of going to the dining hall because of the looks they get, people are constantly whispering names like “monkey” and “ape” under their breath,” another wrote. “Students and faculty has [sic] made it very clear that minorities are not welcome here.” And that perceived racism doesn’t just extend to American students, one person wrote. “I am an international student and most of the time in campus I feel that white people don’t like me and want to avoid me,” another said. Others said it seems the university only addresses racism between black and white students. “Latinos experience racism here too and are left out of these talks,” a student said. “Inclusivity should include all people of color not just African Americans.” This survey was conducted after a student living in Brown Hall made a video relaying racism she experienced in her dorm earlier this month. In response to her video, which has since gained more than 150,000 views, interim Chancellor Bradley Colwell sent out a number of emails addressing the racism, saying the university is investigating the event. Please see POLL | 4
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TIERRA CARPENTER | @TierraMC_
About 20 students gathered Monday for a sit-in in the lobby of the Chancellor’s Office at Anthony Hall where they demanded the university resume a search for a professor who specializes in Africana philosophy and AfricanAmerican philosophy. Johnathan Flowers, a doctoral candidate in philosophy from Oak Park, said the department has been trying to get a professor in this position for the last 10 years, and this is the first year the administration had approval to conduct a search and interview applicants. But Flowers, who is on the hiring committee, said the administration cancelled the search this month because they say the hire would not increase enrollment or the amount of majors. “To cancel it right before we were going to have on-campus interviews is suspicious at best, and an example of institutional racism at worst,” Flowers said. He said another reason university administrators have given for not going through with the hire is the Illinois budget
impasse, although the new position was approved during the third month of the impasse. SIU spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith said a number of faculty searches have been put on hold because of “the lack of a state appropriation in the current year and a proposed 20 percent cut in next year’s appropriation.” “These include a number of high priority positions as determined by the deans,” she said. “Overall, we have not filled more than 100 positions due to the state budget impasse.” She said this does not mean the positions won’t get filled, but they are on pause until Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic-led Legislature agree upon a state budget. “The last [departmental review], which happened about three years ago, indicated the department needed an Africana specialist in order to remain competitive overall, and it also needed an Africana specialist to increase the diversity of the department of faculty, which is all white,” he said. “It’s all white, all male except for one woman.” Flowers said his goal is to get this
professor hired and then help other departments in similar situations. He said having a professor that specializes in Africana and AfricanAmerican philosophy would serve all students. “An Africana hire would enable white students to understand their own white privilege, to understand what people are talking about when they say that America is organized around white supremacist ideologies,” he said. “It would enable them to understand why students on this campus feel accepted but not welcomed. It would enable them to understand things like black lives matter, and it would enable them to understand what role they can play in pushing back against these kinds of institutionalized oppressions.” Bryce Pulley, a junior from Marion studying philosophy, said he agrees that having a professor in this position would help with racism on campus. “The primary problem with racism, and just in general any kind of bigotry, is a lack of understanding and just flat out ignorance,” Pulley said. Please see STUDENTS | 3