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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1997)
Diversity becoming burning issue at UNL ___—--- > -- By Erin Gibson Senior Reporter Last week, Chancellor James Moeser told the Academic Senate that students are insensitive at the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln. Students are not well-educated on cultural issues, he said, and many lack sensitivity to the differing cultural backgrounds of university members. Moeser called on professors to help correct this educational deficiency by incorporating diverse cultural themes into their courses next year. Moeser’s comments were big news across the state and were reported in several newspapers. But last September, such com ments may not have been reported past the doorstep of the university. Nebraskans, including university members, have since become more aware of racism at UNL and of the lack of diversity on campus. A cross to bear The start date for this heightened awareness was Jan. 27, the day the public learned of an incident that oc curred four days earlier. That incident involved a pre-initiation ceremony of the Lincoln chapter of Sigma Chi fra ternity. Lancaster County Sheriffs depu ties said they discovered about 30 Sigma Chi members engaged in a his torical fraternity ceremony in a rural field south of Highway 33 and S.W. 55th Street. No arrests were made regarding the ritual, which included the burn ing of a 6-foot Cross. The Lincoln and campus commu nities erupted. Craig Vacek, Sigma Chi president, told the Daily Nebraskan that frater nity members did not mean for the act to connote racial bigotry. “Our fault lies in the fact that we created the potential for this misun derstanding, and for that we are ex tremely apologetic,” Vacek said. At the time, it seemed all Lincoln area leaders had heard about the inci dent and responded—all except those at the university. The Monday after the incident, Lincoln religious and community leaders met at St. John’s Baptist Church to demand the university cor rect racism at UNL. The church’s Rev. John Carter led the meeting, and said the university’s slow reaction to the incident was un acceptable. The university had not yel officially reacted to the incident. “If you can’t say that it’s wrong, then you’re condoning the conduct,” Carter said. “It’s wrong,” he said. “That’s the Our fault lies in the fact that we created the potential for this misunderstanding, and for that we are extremely apologetic.99 Craig Vacek Sigma Chi president bottom line. It’s wrong.” • Such comments have since echoed throughout the Lincoln and campus communities. The week after the incident, Chan cellor James Moeser. issued a state ment condemning the ignorance that led to the Sigma Chi incident. He said the university would not let the fra ternity explain away its actions with a claim of naivete. The Lincoln City Council, Mayor Mike Johanns, Gov. Ben Nelson and NU President Dennis Smith were among those who denounced Sigma Chi for its actions. Bridging the gap On Feb. 4, the Afrikan People’s Union held a meeting in the basement of the Culture Center with Sigma Chi members, black community leaders and university administrators. Press members were excluded from the meeting, but the people who emerged at the end said the meeting was a positive step toward cultural understanding on campus. Everyone had agreed to work to ward unity, they said, and Sigma Chi members had promised to atone for their actions. One week later, university mem bers of all races and backgrounds met with the Ethnic Minority Affairs Com mittee and vowed to end racism on campus. The meeting called for action, not talks, attendees said. Afterwards, those attending held a candlelight vigil on the Union’s south steps. Each group member braved chill ing February winds to state a personal commitment to improving the cultural unity of the campus. They sang “We Shall Overcome.” And, judging from the result of that first meeting, they meant it. The Diversity Council, a group of students working to end racism on campus, has met at least (Mice a week since the first union meeting. The group boasts accomplishments includ ing helping to sponsor campus discus sions. The council also welcomes cam pus members of all races, sexes and sexual orientations. Change in conduct Amy Rager, ASUN 1st vice presi dent, said the result of such campus discussion could be a change in the Student Code of Conduct this fall. A committee is being formed to review the code. They will then con sider proposing changes, which could be voted on by the ASUN and Aca demic Senate this fall. Changes could include a more spe cific and inclusive definition of sexual harassment, she said, and clarifying the university’s jurisdiction when dealing with student groups. The Sigma Chi fraternity wasn’t forced to answer to any official judi cial system — neither the Greek sys tem nor the university system — for the cross-burning incident in January, Rager said. As a result, the university’s re sponse was slow. Too slow for many campus and community leaders. Legally, the university could not forbid hate speech in its code of con duct, Rager said. Student codes that forbid hate speech have been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, she said. But the code of conduct could be changed to better define the system for dealing with future accusations of rac ist acts committed by student groups. Currently, the UNL residence halls, the greek system and the ath letic department have their own judi cial processes. Student Code of Con duct infringements handled by any of those institutions may not fall under the jurisdiction of UNL’s student ju dicial affairs. “Our judicial process isn’t clear,” Rager said. “It seems sometimes that it’s not equitable.” This fall, the debate over the Code of Conduct changes could keep efforts to increase cultural unity and aware ness alive and thriving at the Univer sity of Nebraska-Lincoln. Campus and religious leaded have said, although the Sigma Chi incident should not be projected in a positive light, the incident sparked perhaps the most impressive discussions on cul tural awareness ever at UNL. Congratulations & Good Luck Seniors From the Men of ATP American Heart Association*!^^ Fighting Heart Disease and Stroke Reduce your risk factors Congratulations ! Seniors! Kevin Buhrman Warren Coulter Eric Dam Curtis Domina Doug Eisenmann TodaGrabenstein William Japp Michael Karr Brent Karstens Tony Kaufman Kevin Meyer Ryan Rikli Justin Sindt Ryan Soukup Jude Warner ATS Alpha Xi Delta Congratulations to Seniors! GOOD LUCK! Angie Bring Angie Coon Shelly Crounse Erica Freeman Kara Greenwood Susan Hunteman Trina Landwehr Kim Mason J.J. Me Gowan Jody Rastede Sara Ragatz Amy Rowan Amy Sanderson Cami Tickner Traci Williams Niki Witt CONGRATULATIONS <I>BX Seniors! Denise Cosgrove Joyce Hruska Jackie Kamm Julie Kazmierski Congratulations to our Graduating Seniors! Matt Avey Chris Jensen Brock Bahe John McGowen Jason Castle Kip Realph Dave Fischer Scott Semrad Davis Hanson Vanneman From the Men of EX r=g= 1 — —" " I Congratulations Seniors! Justin Anderson Jason Reno Jim Barrett Ryan Ricenbaw Matt Deaver Joel Russell Jay Erickson Mark Schlothauer Kyle Erickson Jeremy Segrist Brad Gieske Scott Seiler Steve Korell Andy Sims Wade Lukken James Tindell Brad Martin Kevin Torczon Scott Nelson Jeremy VanBoening Jason Prebyl Scott Wanetka Ryan Wellman <AIplja tEmt <3§mega