Mural program, video evaluated

Senior Quiana Stone, undergraduate student advisor for the Black Student Union, has sat in Woodburn Hall 100 for six different classes. She has often questioned why the Thomas Hart Benton Mural, which depicts Ku Klux Klan members burning a cross, adorns the wall of a classroom environment. But until the beginning of last year, she never saw the educational video addressing the controversial panel, "Parks, the Circus, the Klan, the Press."\n"I wanted to know why these scenes were here, what I was supposed to walk away with," she said. \nAfter controversy arose last March about removing the mural entirely from Woodburn 100 because of students' complaints, IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm enacted a set of initiatives. Rather than removing the mural from the classroom, which could result in damage to the building, the administration decided to create diversity education programs. The video, now mandatory for all students with classes in Woodburn 100 to watch, has attempted to tackle student concerns regarding the Benton mural. \nEven before Brehm's initiatives, teachers were recommended to show a video tape but often neglected this responsibility because of time constraints. However, since the beginning of the school year, in addition to showing the 9-minute video, discussion leaders have encouraged diversity dialogue. \nDuring the 25-minute educational sessions, the Benton Mural Education Committee gave students index cards on which they could write down their personal reactions to the mural. Under the administration of Dr. Valerie Grim of the African-American and African Diaspora Studies department, the committee studied hundreds of student comments. \nDean of Faculties Moya Andrews, chair of the committee that produced the video, said she hopes to continue receiving feedback.\n"We'll see how it needs to be changed according to the reactions every semester," Andrews said.\nThe committee made one change after last semester's results. It will now ask students a set of identical questions to provide consistency in feedback. \n"It seemed the format we used has been working for the moment," she said. "We're going to keep fine-tuning as we get more experienced." \nAndrews said student feedback has been relatively positive concerning the video. However, BSU president Gerald Mitchell disagrees.\n"Students had very mixed reactions to the video," Mitchell said. "Although the questions of its location have been answered, the issues surrounding the mural still exist."\nBrehm agreed, saying she continues to hear complaints about the mural. \n"It's still controversial," Brehm said. "However, by teaching the controversy we are hoping to encourage people to think carefully about racism in our country, its history, and the importance of increasing diversity on campus," she said.\nAfter one semester of implementation, the new program has received a barrage of scrutiny. Students and faculty expressed a variety of reactions to the administration's efforts in combating frustration with diversity education. \nOn the first day of class, freshman Kelly Reinhold walked into Woodburn 100 and sat down in her seat, oblivious to the Benton Mural hanging on the wall. \n"It wasn't until it was pointed out to me with the video that I actually looked at the painting," she said. Reinhold said she thinks Benton intended for the mural to act as an accurate depiction of Indiana history, not a battleground for racial tension. \n"I can sit in the classroom and it doesn't bother me, but I can see how it could bother some other people," she said. \nReinhold saw the video this semester and last semester in criminal justice lecture classes. In total, she has seen the video four times. \n"I think it has a good point behind it," Reinhold said. \nSome teachers, such as political science professor Christine Barbour, have improvised lesson plans by linking the video to class discussions. \n"In the past when I have shown the older version of the video I have had excellent, provocative discussions," Barbour said.\nIn fact, in the new edition of the textbook she wrote for her class, Barbour included a section about the murals and will use that as a base for discussion.\nBrehm said the University has taken a number of steps in response to the Benton Mural controversy. "We've done a lot. Have we done enough?" asked Brehm. "Of course not; diversity is a long-term issue and we must commit ourselves to a sustained effort to develop a campus environment that welcomes diversity and that benefits from its educational impact"