Vol. 127, No. 40 Tuesday, October 10, 2017
OPINION
SPORTS
FORT COLLINS SHOULD BAN CONVERSION THERAPY
VIDEO OF FORMER COACH USING COCAINE SURFACES
PAGE 7
PAGE 10
A&C
PUMPKINS FOR SALE ON CAMPUS PAGE 13
Campus vandalized with graffiti By Stuart Smith & Joe Manely @CSUCollegian
The first snow of the semester was not the only thing to hit the Colorado State University campus early Monday morning, as an unknown person graffitied the phrases “Fuck Columbus” and “decolonize” on multiple buildings. The anarchy symbol was also included in some places.
CAMPUS VANDALISM ■ LSC, Clark and Eddy were
some of the many buildings vandalized. ■ Damages estimated to be more than $10,000. ■ Facilities Management began to paint over graffiti by 10 a.m. Elijah Thomas, a sophomore sociology major at Colorado State University, waits outside the North Ballroom to have a private conversation with Tony Frank before an event about racism on campus on Oct. 9. Other students lined up in an act of demonstration to support him. On Aug. 19, Thomas found a noose made out of crepe paper dangling from the stairs in front of his dorm floors’ entrance. PHOTO BY SETH BODINE COLLEGIAN
Students of color stage demonstration ahead of talk with CSU administration By Nate Day & Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick @CSUCollegian
Editor’s note: Students who participated publicly in the forum did not wish to be identified, so the Collegian refrained from publishing last names. Nearly 70 students dressed in black silently lined the northern-most hall of the Lory Stu-
dent Center Monday afternoon waiting for Colorado State University President Tony Frank. Students stood in solidarity for Elijah Thomas, a resident assistant who found a fake noose hanging outside his hallway in Newsom Hall a few days before classes started. Frank was scheduled to address Thomas and other students of color regarding the administration’s response to the
incident, which has been highly criticized. When Frank arrived, he passed through the line of demonstrators without a sound. A few minutes later, Thomas followed to a closed-door meeting with Frank and Vice President of Student Affairs Blanche Hughes. After a nearly 45-minute meeting, the three came back to invite students into the ballroom for
an open discussion. The room was originally set up with chairs lined in rows for a forum. Frank, Thomas and Hughes encouraged attendees to rearrange the room into a circle for a discussion. Students brought up several issues regarding Thomas’ experience, as well as other bias-motivated incidents—their largest concern being student see DEMONSTRATION on page 4 >>
For many students, the first graffiti they saw was next to the Transit Center outside of the Lory Student Center. There was also graffiti on the Clark buildings, under Eddy, under some stairs outside the LSC and on the side of the Visual Arts building. Student reactions to the graffiti were mixed, although more leaned towards not supporting the means of getting the message out. “It’s dumb that they did it on the school,” said Alex Paul, an undeclared freshman. “There’s other ways to protest without vandalizing the school.” Anna Slage, a junior wildlife biology major, was also critical of the graffiti. “Usually I’m not a fan of see GRAFFITI on page 4 >>