Racial Incident at Purdue University

Cornell Bell

A photo of the late Cornell Bell hangs in the lobby of the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University. Bell was a professor who led Purdue’s Business Opportunity Program for more than 37 years. He retired in 2006 and died in 2009.

Last week, a visiting alumnus discovered that a large “X” was found written in marker over Bell’s photograph and a racial slur was written above his name.

France A. Córdova, president of Purdue University, issued a statement that read, “We deplore the act of racial vandalism that occurred recently in our Krannert Building. It is offensive, shocking and wholly out of character with our values and goals of inclusion and mutual respect. This incident cannot and will not define us as people or as an institution.”

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2 COMMENTS

  1. It is very unfortunate that there are some who value destruction. They are the one’s who contributed less or nothing of value.

  2. Many Americans have a deep-seated disinterest, resentment, even hatred and an inability to empathize
    with the Black experience. I would like an answer to why do they hate a people who have done them little harm. Racial slurs, Racial Vandalism, Acts of Harm: It seems we remain the scapegoats for issues that we have not created. I was flabbergasted that even at my Alma Mater, Oberlin College, there was a major act of racial vandalism this year. In Africa House someone defaced a picture in a sexually derogatory way. Oberlin is an institution that I thought prided itself as a station on the underground railroad, as the first college to graduate Blacks and women, as a progressive, liberal institution. America has a dangerous underside for Black folks.

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