Northern releases statement on racism issue

Montana State University-Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel issued a statement to the Northern Community Thursday about a reported racist statement and the administration's reaction.

"Anytime a student feels threatened we take these concerns seriously," Kegel's statement says, which he sent to the Havre Daily News. "MSU-Northern does not tolerate hate speech, slurs, bullying or harassment of any kind. We will be reviewing our actions with particular attention to how we communicated."

The statement came after a story in Wednesday's Billings Gazette about heightened racial tensions reported an incident in which a student said something that made another student feel threatened.

The Havre Daily News has been investigating a report of racism made to the Havre Police Department since April 18. The police have said they have no information to provide on the incident.

After the Havre Daily News inquired last Friday about a report of a campus-wide email, the university to the Daily News that the email regarded a potential threat that the university found had no actual danger. The university also said it took steps to mitigate any potential threats and cited student confidentiality in declining to provide any details.

Northern Professor John Snider declined to provide additional information to the Havre Daily last Friday after reporting a mass email had been sent out.

Snider, who is cited in the Gazette article, said Wednesday that the incident is part of a wider culture of racism against Native Americans at Northern that the administration is ignoring.

Snider, who said he heard second- and third-hand accounts about the incident, said he believes the university should have held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue.

"For me, my whole position is, this is my whole position there is a racist incident, a racist charge, the proper response is not to keep it quiet, the proper response is to get it out in the open," said Snider, who said he was speaking only for himself.

Northern's Sweetgrass Society, a club whose goal is to provide communication among Native American students, foster cultural identity and promote activities, referred all questions to the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana.

An ACLU Montana representative said Thursday the organization is not representing Sweetgrass Society in the alleged incident in question, although they are representing the club in an issue about a step in Northern's Hello Walk that runs from the Student Union Building up the hill to the quad between Cowan Hall, Vande Bogart Library, Armory Gymnasium and Hagener Science Center.

After Sweetgrass Society members painted the #NODAPL hashtag on the walk in November in a show of opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in addition to painting their club step, the student senate painted over the #NODAPL step. The senate later said it did not know who had painted the hashtag and that political messages were not appropriate on the walk, provided for university clubs and organizations to paint a message promoting their activities.

After a forum was held about the step being painted over, Sweetgrass Society was allowed to paint the step again with the inclusion of the club name.

During the meeting, Havre police officers who were present undercover arrested Henry Charles Valdez Jr. on a charge of disorderly conduct when he tried to approach the podium after being told to leave - Valdez had interrupted another speaker and, using profanity, told senate members to pay attention to the speakers and quit using their cellphones.

Snider said Wednesday that the fact undercover police were present at the forum shows an attitude of racism.

"It represents a paranoia and fear about Indians, which is disturbing," Snider said.

He also cited the lack of Native Americans on the university's faculty as a sign of racism.

Dean of Students Steven Wise investigated the racial comment incident and came up with a mitigation plan to avoid any conflicts with the student in question, Kegel's statement said.

Wise said Wednesday he interviewed seven or eight faculty members and students and decided the comment from the student did not pose a threat.

He sent the mass campus email about the issue after his investigation.

"After careful investigation, we have determined that the best solution for all individuals involved is to ensure that the student does not attend classes or access the following campus facilities: all classrooms, residence halls, Student Union Building- including the Food Court - and library for the remainder of the semester," Wise wrote in the email. "This action is intended to reduce the level of anxiety and concern for safety expressed by some of our students."

Kegel said in his statement that the administration should have done more to calm the fear among students.

"We have to aspire to have Northern be a welcoming and safe university for all students," he said. "Clearly, we've fallen short of that aspiration this week through our communications which, instead of reassuring students, have caused some to be more anxious. For this I am sorry and I apologize for any comments this administration made that appeared to diminish the importance of this issue."

Kegel added that in recent years the university has sought to make American Indian students feel welcome, including by adding a new bachelor's degree in Native American studies, an effort to build a Native American Culture Center and devoting the second floor of the Student Union Building to the Little River Institute.  

In the statement, Northern Director of Media Relations Jim Potter apologized to the Native American community for a quote in the Billings Gazette where he referred to the incident as "a nothing issue."

"It was my intent not to say to insinuate that the situation was not significant or serious, only to clarify that the situation was not considered dangerous," Potter said. "It is my hope that everyone can forgive me."