The Scarlet & Black The oldest college g newspaper p p West of the Mississippi pp
May 13, 2016
Hate speech found in Steiner
www.thesandb.com
Vol. 132, Issue 24
TIBATEMWA ’19 PREPARES FOR OLYMPICS
EMMA FRIEDLANDER, News Editor friedlan@grinnell.edu Two written messages of hate speech were found in Steiner Hall last Friday, May 6. A special all-campus memo sent by the College’s Chief Diversity Officer, Lakesia Johnson, explained that the messages referenced the KKK and white supremacy. Upon their discovery, the messages were immediately photographed and documented, reported to Johnson, Campus Safety and Security and Student Affairs and then removed. “These messages of hate are CONTRIBUTED unacceptable in our community, as this Joshua Tibatemwa is training at Grinnell, hoping to represent Uganda in the 50-meter freestyle this summer. creates a hostile environment and violates SAM CATANZARO, Sports Editor both our core values and our standards as But according to Tibatemwa and assistant swimming and diving coach catanzar@grinnell.edu an inclusive community,” Johnson wrote Tim Hammond, for all practical purposes Tibatemwa can expect to in the campus memo. She noted that the As the school year draws to an end, students around campus can participate in Rio as there are only a handful of qualified swimmers in the College’s response followed the procedures be overheard discussing their summer plans, which include lucrative country. outlined by Grinnell’s Hate Crimes and internships, entry-level jobs and soul searching trips. None of these “From my communication with the Ugandan Swimming Federation Bias-Motivated Incidents Policy. ventures, however, seem as exciting as what member of the swim team we, as well as they, expect Joshua to be competing at the Olympics. But This policy stresses the difference Joshua Tibatemwa ’19 has in store: an opportunity to represent Uganda understandably they want to take the time they are allowed before between a hate crime and a bias-motivated in the 2016 Olympics in Rio as a swimmer. finalizing any decisions,” Hammond said. incident; the incident in Steiner qualifies After the London 2012 Olympics, a friend told Tibatemwa that he “It’s been kind of my dream, really,” Tibatemwa said. as a bias-motivated incident. Hate crimes Tibatemwa will be competing in the 50-meter freestyle, a short race should spend the next four years training hard for a chance to compete are defined as criminal acts of hostility that that is over in a matter of seconds. Tibatemwa’s time of 25.54 seconds, in Rio this year. In a country where there are not that many competitive require identification by local police. A recorded at the 2014 World Championships in Russia, is the fastest in swimmers, Tibatemwa knew that this was feasible. After establishing bias-motivated incident, on the other Ugandan history. Just last week, Tibatemwa competed in a meet in Iowa himself as one of Uganda’s best swimmers in high school, Tibatemwa hand, is an expression of hostility targeted City and came within a half of a second of besting this time. chose to come to Grinnell, a place where he could continue competing towards a person or group on the basis Despite being the fastest swimmer in Uganda, Tibatemwa has not both athletically and academically. of their identity. The College is required officially been named to the Olympic team. The process of selecting Even though the swim season has ended, Tibatemwa has to inform the community about the swimmers to represent Uganda takes into consideration more than just continued to train with Hammond and head coach Erin Hurley. CONT. ON PAGE 9 occurrence with details such as the location time, but also a swimmer’s overall performance since the last Olympics. and bias of the messages. However, details about the content are not disclosed to the public. These messages in Steiner are not Bagnoli said. EVA LILIENFELD, Editor-in-Chief the first instances of hate speech to occur Beyond the diversity of the pool of lilienfe17@grinnell.edu at Grinnell this year. In December 2015, Although the class of 2020 is still subject admitted students, the class of 2020 also occupants of a truck near campus were to change, the Department of Admissions boasts academic prowess. Bagnoli estimates reported to shout racial slurs at passersby. believes it has welcomed the, arguably, that the average SAT will exceed 1400 for the In March 2016, Johnson reported that a greatest class yet. first time in Grinnell’s history. group of students on campus were verbally “There weren’t just more [applicants], “Every year we have a goal of enrolling assaulted due to their race. These racially a diverse group of students,” said Joe but there were many more of them who were based bias-motivated incidents occurred Bagnoli, Vice President for Enrollment. “At strongly qualified according to all the tradition among the release of a series of Clery the moment, we will have a robust entering measures,” Bagnoli said. reports related to sexual harassment and class of domestic students of color and … an Bagnoli believes that recently assault earlier this semester. increase in the percentage of students who implemented programs helped improve “In terms of future plans, Grinnell’s enter who are from other countries.” this year’s applicant pool. Unlike in previous Council on Diversity and Inclusion is Of the 7,368 students who applied, years, Grinnell College admissions officers working on an educational campaign approximately 20 percent — the lowest contacted individual applicants for interviews about the policy that will be rolled out in percentage in history — received good news rather than simply advertising their visits with the fall,” Johnson wrote in an email to the from Grinnell on acceptance day. Roughly high schools. Moreover, with the help of an S&B. 60 percent of accepted students come from outside company, Admissions developed new Although Johnson could not disclose outside the Midwest and half of domestic marketing materials for high school juniors what this campaign will entail, it is clear applicants were students of color. two years ago. that recent events have inspired Campus “More and more people are talking “In years past, we seemed to have Safety and Security to take further steps in enrolled a higher share of low-income about Grinnell,” Bagnoli said. “We’ve seen a properly responding to and deterring bias- students ... We provide full financial aid to tremendous growth in our applicant pool over motivated incidents on campus. meet their demonstrated financial need,” the last four years.”
[2020] SOARS IN DIVERSITY, ACADEMICS
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