Last Saturday, two students attending a football game at the University of Wisconsin-Madison wore Halloween costumes, one depicting President Obama and the other was dressed as Donald Trump. The Trump character was holding a noose that was hung around the neck of the student portraying the President. Security asked the students to refrain from displaying the noose but the university later defended the students’ right of free speech. Later, the university said the displaying of a noose was inappropriate.
Photographs of a White student at the University of Central Arkansas dressed in a “Bill Cosby” outfit and wearing blackface were circulated on social media. The student was expelled from the fraternity and the fraternity chapter was suspended, pending an investigation. The student apologized on social media and reported that he had received death threats.
Racist graffiti was spray-painted on the wall of Ford Hall on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. The message read: “Leave, Niggers.” This was the second incident of racist graffiti on campus this fall. Jim Smith, president of the university, stated that “there is no place on our campus for these kinds of hateful actions and I am deeply angered and saddened that it occurred. I want to convey my strong sense of resolve in finding out who is behind these incidents.”
A professor law at the University of Oregon wore a blackface costume to an off-campus Halloween party that was attended by other members of the campus community. Michael Schill, president of the University of Oregon said that the professor’s action was “anathema to the University of Oregon’s cherished values of racial diversity and inclusion.” The faculty member apologized for his insensitivity.
