Chancellor Montemagno responds to complaints about SIU student accused of being a Nazi
September 21, 2018
On Thursday, SIUC Chancellor Carlo Montemagno sent out an email with the subject “Discouraging bigotry and celebrating diversity” to students in response to a flier that has been circulating social media accusing an SIU student of being a Nazi.
The flier names the student and demands that his financial aid be revoked by the University.
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Lori Stettler, said in an official statement the university can not prohibit the free speech of a student and revoke their financial aid.
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(See more: Racist propaganda placed on windshields at John A. Logan Community College)
“The views of white supremacists, any other group promoting hate, and all those who seek to demean and marginalize others are abhorrent,” Montemagno said. “They do not align with the university’s mission or values, and they do not represent what we stand for as a campus community.”
Montemagno said he encourages students to start a dialogue to address issues of racism and bias.
“Our obligation to comply with and respect the law does not prevent any of us from proactively speaking out against racism and bias,” Montemagno said. ”It does not prevent us from focusing on education and dialog about addressing these serious issues.”
Montemagno said residence life staff will be holding town hall meetings beginning in October to discuss current events, issues relating to diversity and to allow students to discuss the events from this fall semester
“A new diversity event calendar, housed on the Office of the Associate Chancellor for Diversity website, is being developed to help you stay up-to-date on events and activities,” Montemagno said.
At the end of the email, Montemagno said students who are aware of threatening statements or behaviors should report their information to the SIU Department of Public Safety.
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The SIU Department of Public Safety can be reached here: (618) 453-3771 or at 911 in an emergency.
Staff reporter Kallie Cox can be reached at kcox@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @KallieC45439038.
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Annomyous • Sep 28, 2018 at 3:06 pm
When people are targeted within the larger community with hate and violence we need strong leadership. Unfortunately the Chancellor is not up to this task and has let down the SIU community again. This is yet another cynical and misguided response by the SIU administration that amounts to the will of the Chancellor’s office to do nothing to support the community here. To believe or promote the idea that white supremacist flyers are acts of freedom of speech is a disgrace. White supremacist actions are terrorist actions. One can only assume the current administration supports these terrorists acts, while they more vigorously work against freedom of speech protests on campus. SIU needs to support its students rather than hiding behind flaccid declarations and half-cooked policy statements. The flyers were not merely recruitment tactics or informational, they were acts of terrorism plain and simple and need to be responded to accordingly.