Chancellor approves restoring logo to Hello Walk

Havre Daily News staff

The chancellor of Montana State University-Northern has approved restoring a symbol of opposition to a pipeline in North Dakota after a protest was raised this week about its removal.

Northern’s Sweetgrass Society sent a letter to the university this week protesting the Student Senate painting over the “#NODAPL” logo the group had painted on the Hello Walk at Northern, saying covering it violated the groups freedom of speech.

The group said it had painted the logo on the steps, which run from Northern’s Student Union Building up to the quad by Cowan Hall, during the annual painting of the Hello Walk this fall.

The Student Senate said it did not know who had painted the logo on the step.

Chancellor Greg Kegel issued a statement this morning saying the group will be allowed to restore the logo on the step.

“On Wednesday, November 30th, MSU-Northern’s Student Senate held both a town hall meeting and a Student Senate meeting,” Kegel said in his statement. “The purpose of those meetings was to vote on an Associated Student resolution requesting that Montana abstain from sending law enforcement to engage the Standing Rock protestors, and to discuss a miscommunication regarding the painting of the Hello Walk. I realized that the issues they would be dealing with would be contentious, so I attended. I fully support providing students with the opportunity to civilly voice their opinions in a public forum. Those opinions do not reflect any official stance of the university; Northern exists to facilitate the process of bringing together diverse ideas and opinions, and to encourage unity and understanding.

“I understand that there are strong emotions on both sides of the issues that were discussed.

“Regarding the Hello Walk, painting the steps has been a tradition on Northern’s campus for over 50 years. Every fall, the chancellor gives recognized clubs permission to demonstrate pride in their Club through this activity. No formal guidelines have ever been established regarding Hello Walk content. A few weeks ago, misunderstanding about content on the walk (the hashtag #NODAPL) led to the belief that it had been added to the face of one of the Hello Walk steps after the university-sanctioned event, which prompted its removal. 

“This was not the case. In fact, the hashtag had been added by a student group as part of their participation in the Hello Walk event.

  “Therefore, I am granting the request of the Sweetgrass Society to restore the #NODAPL tag that was removed. The Hello Walk is a student forum and represents the opinions and platforms of the recognized student organizations on Northern’s campus. 

“MSU-Northern students have the right to post their political opinion on campus, so long as that expression is in approved areas, communicated in a respectful manner, and does not deface state property.

“These issues are not new, and we at MSU-Northern are aware that the solutions are not going to be easy. We have all learned a great deal through this process, and appreciate that these discussions are happening so that we can address the issues and move forward together in a positive direction. MSU-Northern is committed to the process of bringing all perspectives together and we encourage our students and our community to continue talking and listening to one another. We respect that differing points of view exist within our campus and in our region, and we are privileged to be the institution that brings those views together to learn from one another.”