Abbott says USD will not tolerate racism

Article by: Megan Card and Nathan Ellenbecker

President James Abbott said Tuesday in a release by the University of South Dakota that “insensitive remarks and rude treatment of minority groups on campus” will not be tolerated by the university.

Abbott’s comments were incited by an incident reported during the university’s homecoming, when student organization Strollers admitted that members on their Dakota Days float taunted USD student Alexis Oskolkoff and her 9-year-old son for wearing traditional Native American regalia. The students reportedly yelled out, “Look at those Indians,” and began making war whoops with their hands to their mouths.

Lindsay Sparks, assistant director of student life, said students within Strollers have done everything asked of them to make up for this incident — which Abbott described as deplorable in the release. Sparks also said there is no specific disciplinary protocol for when a student makes racially insensitive comments or gestures to her knowledge, and so far, the organization as a whole has delivered a written letter to Oskolkoff, while Strollers President Chris Jahr has apologized in person to Oskolkoff and her son.

“Strollers has also been very upfront in being a part of any programming or any kind of conversation or whatever it might be surrounding diversity and Inclusive Excellence,” Sparks said.

The next step for Strollers, the oldest student-run organization on campus, will revolve around Inclusive Excellence she said, when members will assist hosting diversity speaker Jamie Utt next Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Aalfs Auditorium.

The university’s release said Dean of Students Kim Grieve has worked with the students involved in the D-Days racial incident, although Sparks was not able to disclose if all taunters have been identified and disciplined for their actions.

Jesus Trevino, associate vice president for diversity, said the Strollers’ actions have not helped efforts to improve the university’s diversity climate.

“The larger picture is that we can use this as an instance to look at our policy and take a look at our programs to see how we can improve,” Trevino said. “That’s not just going to be the decision of just one person or one group. That’s going to be up to a lot of people at the table that represent a lot of different areas of our campus to decide how best to move forward as a university.”

The Inclusive Excellence program, Trevino said, is a part of the university’s strategic plan to transform USD’s environment to be supportive of people from a number of alternative backgrounds.

Tiospaye Student Council President Jordan Catlett said she and other members of the organization do not think promoting racial sensitivity in the context of discipline is appropriate, because cultural tolerance is something all organizations should strive for daily.

“Doing Inclusive Excellence should not be a punishment. It should be something all groups are willing to take part in anyway,” Catlett said.