LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University Board of Trustees can can expect to get some pointed questions at their Friday about the racial climate on campus.
There have been three major controversial incidents within the last week and student groups say they expect the board and President Samuel Stanley to do something about it.
Trustee Brian Mosallam said on Thursday that there are students from "marginalized communities who do not feel safe on campus."
The incident that has gotten the most attention was a survey filled with racial slurs and obscenities.
An associate professor of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations sent that survey out to random students and said he wanted his class to be able to study the reaction to the harsh language.
That professor, Saleem Alhabash, has since apologized for the survey.
One MSU student said he's happy the professor owned up to it.
"I'm glad that he was able to come out and actually talk about it and be up front about his intentions and what he expected," said Evan Morton, an MSU student.
But he still feels the university doesn't understand what minority students are going through.
"It's about the whole university understanding our point about just again what happened over the past weekend and what happened yesterday and the actions we took to make sure that as black students we feel secure," Morton said.
In another incident, there was a report of a noose made out of toilet paper left on a door in Bryan Hall. The university said this was not an act of hate or discrimination, but said students admitted to putting it there as a Halloween prank.
In the statement sent just before 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 21, University Spokesperson Emily Guerrant said:
"Two African American students living on campus in the Brody neighborhood reported a racial incident over the weekend regarding toilet paper that was left on their door which they believed resembled a noose. MSU Police and members of the Residential and Hospitality Services team responded immediately. After initial discussions, other student residents came forward and volunteered that they had taped up decorations in the hall as part of what they referred to as a Halloween prank, which were not meant to offend anyone or denote any racial bias and were not intended to resemble a noose. The impact on members of our campus community is taken seriously and is being investigated in accordance with university policies."
Police are also looking for the people who destroyed the Sukkah at the Hillel Center for Jewish student life this past Saturday morning.
The MSU Hillel posted on Facebook Monday that two men trespassed and destroyed a Sukkah on the property on Charles Street on Saturday, Oct. 19, the last day of a Jewish holiday, around 1 a.m.
A spokesperson for the center said they have been identified.
Students have organized what they are calling a peaceful protest on Sunday, which starts at 11 a.m. at the Hannah Administration building.
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