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
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Curtis Domina
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ATS
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Congratulations to
Seniors! GOOD LUCK!
Angie Bring
Angie Coon
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CONGRATULATIONS
<I>BX Seniors!
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Congratulations to our
Graduating Seniors!
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Davis Hanson Vanneman
From the Men of
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Congratulations Seniors!
Justin Anderson Jason Reno
Jim Barrett Ryan Ricenbaw
Matt Deaver Joel Russell
Jay Erickson Mark Schlothauer
Kyle Erickson Jeremy Segrist
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Brad Martin Kevin Torczon
Scott Nelson Jeremy VanBoening
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