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T h u r s d a y, J a n u a r y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 | U s i s h i e l d . c o m | v o l . 4 7 i s s u e 1 9
NAACP President calls for justice, unity
Photo by Megan Thorne | The Shield
Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People speaks out about equality, Black Lives Matter and Martin Luther King at the luncheon. “Hope is not an ethical luxurity,” he said. “It’s a moral necessity.”
by Riley Guerzini news@usishield.com @rguerzini
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order to the universe,” Brooks said. “That we as Americans can make things better, we as Americans can bring this country together.” Brooks said three lessons can be discerned from King’s work. Intrinsic value, the idea that everyone has value, interdependence, the fact that people depend on one another and moral order, the way people distinguish right from wrong are the three lessons. Brooks, who claimed the attention of nearly every eye and ear in the audience, also spoke on the increasing civil unrest across the country. “We cannot have a society that denigrates anybody,” Brooks said. “We have to have a society that uplifts everybody.” Brooks said he rejected much of the campaign of President-Elect Donald Trump, calling it “hatefilled.” “If he tweets, we can tweet too,” he said. “We can tweet love, we can tweet justice, we can tweet on behalf of the republic to bring together the republic.”
“We believe, like Martin, that there is a moral order to the universe. That we as Americans can make things better, we as Americans can bring this country together.”
Middle Passage didn’t make it. The 68-year-old Vietnam War veteran who marched from Selma, Alabama to Washington D.C. as part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s “America’s Journey for Justice” back in August of 2015 died just short of the nation’s capital as he was marching outside of the town of Spotsylvania, Virginia. Passage, who carried the American flag for the entire 920-mile journey, was marching for stronger voting rights in America. “My hardest day at the NAACP was telling a group of students that Middle died, but the hardest question I’ve ever been asked at the NAACP was, by those same students, ‘If a man was willing to die for the right to vote, why can’t we fight for the right to vote?’” President and CEO of the NAACP Cornell Brooks said. Brooks was the keynote speaker at Monday’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon in Carter Hall. The luncheon, sponsored by the Multicultural Center and the university Foundation, brought to-
-Cornell Brooks President and CEO of the NAACP
gether university students and faculty as well as community members to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day. “We believe, like Martin, that there is a moral
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MLK, PAGE 5
University hosts town hall Multiple education bills proposed by Riley Guerzini news@usishield.com @rguerzini
Four state legislators representing districts in Vanderburgh, Posey and Warrick County held a town hall with community members Saturday morning in Forum Two. The town hall, sponsored by the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Farm Bureau, featured Republican representatives Wendy McNamara, Thomas Washburne, McNamara Ron Bacon and Holli Sullivan. “It’s not an intimidating atmosphere, which I think the constituents appreciate, because they can have a dialogue with us,” McNa-
mara said. “They don’t always get to have that opportunity.” McNamara said the town hall gave the public the opportunity to fully explain what the concern or issue might be. She also said that when they are fully into session, the bills will begin to reveal themselves. “Being only a week into session, we don’t know what’s out there and what the issues might mean in relationship to local concerns,” she said. McNamara, who represents district 76, which includes the university’s campus, said secondary education is one of her focuses for this session. She also said the roads and transportation bill will be the legislature’s number one focus this session. “That will be the one getting the most information being sent out to the general public about,” she said. House Bill 1258, which will prohibit universities from banning firearms on campus, will be discussed this session. “I’ve always been one to defer to the campus, because they know who their population is,” McNama-
ra said. “I believe students should be able to protect themselves, but you’re also talking about a new life situation where a lot people in which the maturity part isn’t always there.” McNamara said she has not thoroughly reviewed the bill, but would like to have her constituent’s input on it. McNamara said she is “knocking on wood” for the session. She said she wants to focus on the nuts and bolts of the communities and get rid of burdensome laws. “Hopefully the committee chairs stick to the promise of not bringing in bills that cause controversy like it has been in the past few sessions,” she said. “We get drawn into those bills that take the attention away from what is really affecting our daily lives and our communities.” McNamara said she will focus on human trafficking and juvenile issues and believes her mission is to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. “I think you will see a lot of those under-the-radar type bills being the common ones this year,” she said.
For more Information on higher education bills proposed in the 2017 Session, PAGE 3
Senate addresses Protection Policy by Riley Guerzini news@usishield.com @rguerzini
Brandon Field said frequent background checks are the reality of life in 2017. The Child Protection policy, which was discussed at the Faculty Senate meeting on Friday, was the subject of an email sent to faculty and staff (from Human Resources) who were due for a background check. Field, secretary of Faculty Senate, said some people took issue with the email, citing the language implied that they had some type of criminal record. “I came to the realization that this means different things to different people,” he said. “To communicate it in this way was a little offputting to some people.” Field said he wasn’t offended by the email and realizes that it is meant to protect both children and faculty. “You don’t think about it, because you don’t deal with little kids on a professional level,” he said. “You just have to be a little more alert.”
Field said it is the responsibility of the deans to identify the people who, in their job responsibilities, work with children. He said the dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering and Education Zane Mitchell decided to have a background check on everyone in the college so as not to have to go through every faculty member and decide who will be working with minors and who won’t. “Faculty and staff members in any position identified by the university as working with or having access to children, whether regularly or intermittently, will be subject to periodic background checks during employment,” according to the university handbook. “For faculty and staff members in such child-access positions, the human resources department will conduct a criminal background check a minimum of every five years and a sex offender check every year.” Nicholas LaRowe, the chair of Faculty Senate, said he will talk to Human Resources in the near future to discuss the language of the email.