Campus leaders optimistic after La Casa incident

Discrimination-driven incidents are nothing new at IU.

“Although we like to think our campus is very diverse, we still have a way to go,” said Sandy Britton, director of the Leo R. Dowling International Center. “Administration tries hard to make it clear treating people in a discriminatory way is not acceptable. That behavior is not tolerated.”

On Aug. 26, a staff member at La Casa Latino Cultural Center found magnetic letters on the refrigerator that spelled “you need to leave” and a newspaper with “criminals deport” written on it.

Eric Love, director of the Office of Diversity Education, said the recent harassment at La Casa isn’t a growing trend but is an ever-present problem.

During the 2009-10 school year, 121 incidents of harassment and discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation were reported to the Incident Teams, an IU institution that helps students report acts of discrimination or harassment and create a plan of action to resolve them.

At the end of November and beginning of December 2010, six separate anti-Semitic incidents were reported to campus and city police. Hebrew texts were found in toilets in the Herman B Wells Library, and rocks were thrown through the windows of Chabad House and Hillel.

“I think there are always hateful people that just don’t appreciate the diversity we have at IU,” Love said. “They’re going to be upset as we continue to become more multicultural and pluralistic on campus.”

While Director of La Casa Lillian Casillas said she thinks the Welcome Week incident was intended to provoke fear, she said she is reassured after speaking with students that this is not so.

“Even though somebody came in and left two notes that were not nice, it doesn’t mean that (La Casa has) become somewhere one needs to be afraid of,” Casillas said. “Students are not going to give the power to that person to take away their safe place.”
Casillas, Love and other groups are using the incident as an opportunity to unite and expand their mission of educating people about diversity.

“There will be more student groups who start working together because of it,” Love said. “Anytime there is something hateful that happens, the good that comes out of it is tenfold.”

Among the University’s response to racially driven incidents is the Commission on Multicultural Understanding, originally named the Committee on Racial Understanding, which was formed in 1982 to increase awareness and understanding about racism and
oppression.

There are a variety of culture centers on campus that promote cultural awareness and initiatives, including the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services. Student groups like the Asian American Association and Latinos Unidos of Indiana University also promote diversity on campus.

“There are systems set up to address (diversity) issues, but they can only do so much,” Britton said. “It’s up to the students to respect each other.”