Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Volume 134, Issue 13 \\WW. Be sure to log on to our Wf'CVl~ Friday online edition. llEGED NOOSE ON .CAMPUS ------------------------~----------------------------------------~------------------------------- -~ 2 November 20, 2007 2 News 6 Who's who in Newark 12 Editorial 13 Opinion 17 Mosaic 21 delaware UNdressed 25 Classifieds 27 Sports THE REVIEW/Ricky Berl Temperatures drop and leaves cover the ground as Newark approaches winter. 29 Sports-Commentary Check out these articles and more on udreview.com • BUSH VETOES CIGARETTE TAX INCREASE • PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OFFERS FIFTH YEAR FREE • UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR PUBLISHES OCEAN EMISSIONS STUDY THE REVIEW/Steven Gold THE REVIEW/Jenny Bolen Volleyball coach Bonnie Kenny celebrates with On Academy Street, cars yield to a group of students as YoUDee after winning the CAA tournament. they walk to class. 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The ideas and opinions of advertisements appearing in this Sarah Niles Managing News Editors Fashion Forward Columnist publication are not necessarily those of The Review staff or the university_ Sarah Kenney, Joe Zimmermann Larissa Cruz JJt November 20, 2007 3 Reported noose stirs up controversy Black students approach Harker, express concern BY KRISTIN VORCE of this when it happened two weeks ago Senior News Reporter shouldn't happen," Gibson said. Approximately 40 black students wear­ Senior Carl Suddler said he was satis­ ing dark shirts walked from Trabant fied with Harker's initial response. University Center to President Patrick "Whether or not there was another Harker's office in Hullihen Hall Wednesday investigation, we wanted it to be. morning. They knew about the university's addressed," Suddler said. "We didn't want it zero-tolerance policy for hate crimes. They to be brushed under the rug." also heard a noose was seen on campus Senior Lisa DiAndreth said she is more than two weeks ago - what was the unsure what other actions university offi­ university going to do about it? cials could have taken in this case. Senior . Brittany Battle, one of the "I don't really know ·how you can prove organizers of the group, said hanging a it's a racist act unless you know exactly who noose sends a clear message to black stu­ hung it and where it was," DiAndreth said. dents. "And if you don't know who put it up, "It'~ not a prank, and it's not a joke," there's really nothing else you can do." Battle said. "As far as I'm concerned, Since the noose was spotted shortly there's only a very limited number of things before Oct. 31, it could have been holiday­ that a rope hanging on a tree can signify." related, she said. Scott Douglass, senior vice president of "If it was hung at a black person's the university said University Police house, that is obviously bad," DiAndreth received a report of a noose spotted on said. "If it was just someone's Halloween Orchard Road near the Center for the Arts in decoration, that's a different story." late October. The person who reported it did Senior Thea Ogunusi said the nation's not take a picture and the initial police history of lynching black Americans makes investigation failed to uncover substantial a noose offensive today, regardless of its evidence. purpose. After meeting with the concerned stu­ "It doesn't matter what the intent was," dents, Harker reopened the investigation. Ogunusi said. "It's unacceptable." "There is no room for such actions in Arica Coleman, professor of black THE REVIEWNrrginia Rollison our community, and the university will con­ American studies, said university officials The alleged noose was found on Orchard Road, near the Center for the Arts building. tinue to enforce a zero tolerance for hate," should set student and faculty handbook he said in a statement. "I call upon all mem­ policies against racial intimidation or any ing because she knows what a noose repre­ Jim Crow. You want to believe it's 2007. bers of the university community to ·affirm kind of xenophobic behavior. sents. You want to think we're at a level where our common commitment to diversity in Coleman said students should know the "The United States is still in denial people of different races can coexist peace­ word and in action." exact consequences they will face if they about its racist past and its racist present," fully." The students were not affiliated with commit hate crimes. she said. "What's going on at this campus is Gibson said the members ofS.T.A.N.D. any student organization, and they called "There's a lot of talk about the commit­ simply a microcosm of the problem that's U.P. talked to Harker about creating a class their movement S.T.A.N.D. U.P., or ment to diversity and zero tolerance, but going on nationwide." in which students learn the meaning behind Students Taking A Necessary, Direct and what does that mean?'' she said. "Where is In the past year, the media has reported hateful symbols such as the noose. Unified Position. that in the university policy?" a number of national incidents involving "People know that if you were to draw Junior LaMar Gibson said Harker was Coleman said the public discusses race nooses. The most well-known example is or wear a swastika, you must be putting out receptive to their concerns and the meeting casually but never directly addresses the the Jena Six case in Jena, La., in which a message," he said. "Too many people had positive outcomes. problem. white students hung nooses outside a high don't know that a noose is just as bad. It's a "He 'definitely understood where we "These incidents happen and people are school and were not prosecuted. part of American history, not just African were coming from," Gibson said. just wowed that, 'My goodness, we haven't According to reports by The New York American history." Harker promised a continued dialogue moved any further,' " she said. "But that's as Times, a student at Jena High School asked with the students and told them he did not far as the conversation goes. So we wait an assistant principal whether blacks were know about the noose until the night before until the next incident happens." allowed to sit under the "White Tree" in the their meeting, he said. Coleman said she feels uneasy as a school's courtyard. The assistant principal A Closer Look "The fact that he was just made aware black professor on campus after this sight- said students could sit anywhere they want­ ed. The next morning, two nooses were found hanging from the tree. Timeline of Events Some people dismissed the incident as a prank. Fi_ghts erupted in school and six • On Sept. 20, members of the black students - the "Jena Six" - were Black Student Union held a rally at charged with attempted murder in the Center for Black Culture in December for beating a white classmate. · response to the Jena 6 incident in The Jena Six controversy sparked the Jena, La. largest civil rights protests in years, includ­ ing a gathering of more than 10,000 people in Jena on Sept. 20 this year. • In late October, University There has been a surge of similar Police followed up on reporteo crimes since the Jena Six incident. Nooses noose sighting near the Center for have been found on a tree at the University the Arts; citmg inconclusive evi­ of Maryland campus, in a locker room at a denpe, the police closed the investi­ Long Island police station, stuffed in the gation. duffel bag of a black Coast Guard cadet and tied to a black professor's door at Columbia University's Teachers College. • University President Patrick Battle said she has felt a personal Harker suspended Residence Life response to these reports of nooses around programs Nov. 1 after free speech the nation. group FIRE alleges the university of "As soon as the Jena Six incident.hap­ restncting student rights. pened, I was bracing myself for it to happen here," she said. "I didn't want to be taken off-guard." • On Nov. 14, approximately 40 Ogunusi said most racism today is sub­ students approached Harker to dis­ tle, but that does not mean it no longer cuss the noose sighting and to con­ exists.