NORMAL – Illinois State University’s Black Homecoming Committee released a statement late Friday night.
The statement was a direct response to the emailed statement by ISU’s administration and president Larry Dietz regarding discrimination on campus.
Last week students protested discrimination of treatment to diverse students and registered student organizations. Protests came after a scheduling issue with the Black Homecoming Committee and Redbird Arena.
Black Homecoming Committee claimed their concert was cancelled after Redbird Arena scheduled a last-minute volleyball practice. University officials, including President Larry Dietz, said the Arena was never officially booked and arena management tried to accommodate requests as best they could.
“While an event was discussed, it was never contracted or scheduled with the Department of Athletics or any other area of the University,” stated Dietz. “During discussions about a potential event, security concerns were raised, but these are security protocols that apply to the entire University – not just certain groups or individuals.”
Last week the Student Government Association’s Academic Senate held a meeting to discuss the discrimination within university housing, campus dining halls and ISU police department.
At the meeting, students emphasized their frustrations beyond the cancelled event.
“The the homecoming cancellation was not just one isolated incident that, that this wasn’t by chance, this is not black students being cry babies being dishonest,” BHC president Ashley Dumas said. “The email that was sent out by administration was not accurate at all. This is not about homecoming. This is about anti-blackness at this institution.”
Black Homecoming Committee responded to discrepancies found in ISU’s statement such as the dates submitted for their cancelled concert, the staff members involved in the cancellation, and security concerns from the concert.
The statement included screenshots from emails between members of the BHC and administrators within the school and athletic department.
We were forced to delete majority of the tweets in our original thread. Yet again all attempts have been made to silence us. However, we are resilient in continuing the fight. If you did not get a chance to read our side, the link is below https://t.co/tC6rNEWwHq
— Black Homecoming Committee (@BHC_ISU) October 12, 2019
ISU has yet to respond to BHC’s latest statement.