Message from President Ramsey
March 4, 2004
Dear Colleagues:
The past weeks have been difficult for our campus community. We've had important discussions about critical issues that are core to the values we hold as an institution: diversity, freedom of expression and, most importantly, the safety and climate of our campus for every one of our students, faculty and staff.
We have listened closely and carefully to the concerns of our students, employees and others. We have increased campus safety measures, developed plans for education and unifying events, and explored every concern raised. We have discussed the nature, goals and responsibilities of a public academic institution that values input and ideas. And, because the issues are difficult and the views varied, we have recognized that every step we take has the potential to disappoint some and draw praise from others.
To get to the heart of what we face as a community, we must first acknowledge that many of the issues are being mischaracterized. This is absolutely not about preferring hate groups over our African American community. It is not about the university administration vs. those who care about diversity. It is not about choosing the U.S. Constitution over campus safety. Those characterizations are not true.
Instead, it is about whether the university community is prepared to respond as a united community to make a strong, clear statement against those who promote separation and hate. It is completely understandable that there may be disagreement about the best way to make this statement. But to let this disagreement erode into divisiveness rather than build unity serves those who promote hate much more than those of us who oppose it.
We are better than that. We must be.
In this message to the university community and our many friends, I will address the important concerns raised when hate groups appear on our campus and what we are doing to address those concerns. I'll discuss some of the challenging issues we face in balancing the critical interests of our students, faculty and staff with our responsibilities as a public institution. And I'll share ways we can join forces, learn more and work to join forces as a community against hate.
Safety and security
As you know, we have had several instances of fliers from hate groups appear on our campus, as well as an act of vandalism to a campus kiosk. We have had two individuals who say they represent the Ku Klux Klan attend a public forum and go to offices on campus. Given the history of these groups and the values they hold, these instances have raised safety concerns among our community. We are taking every possible step to address them:
We have increased the presence of Department of Public Safety Officers on campus and have authorized DPS to addaddition al security personnel.
Officers, physical plant personnel, custodians and other university staff have been asked to be alert for unusual activity and postings on bulletin boards. We ask all members of the university community who come across flyers from hate organizations to contact DPS at 852-6111 rather than take action yourself. This will allow us to photograph and investigate the material.
We are promoting the use of our campus escort service, which is available around the clock seven days a week. Please call 852-6111 if you would like an escort walking across campus.
We have created a dedicated phone line to report acts of bias, hate and intolerance: 852-6726.
DPS is designating an officer to coordinate response to reports on the dedicated line, working with other offices on campus as appropriate.
I am asking a subcommittee of the Commission on Diversity Racial Equity (CODRE) to monitor university responses to hate crimes, bias and intolerance and to report to me at least quarterly.
We are enhancing required DPS officer training for investigation of hate crimes.
DPS is installing video cameras in all marked police vehicles.
Effective immediately, DPS will provide updates on investigations to campus groups upon request.
In addition to actively investigating campus incidents, DPS also is working closely with local and federal agencies, including the FBI, regarding hate group activities. We are regularly exchanging intelligence information with the Pennsylvania State Police Intelligence Unit regarding any increase in Klan related activity that may impact Kentucky in general and the university specifically (some Klan flyers found on campus list a Pennsylvania post office box). In addition, the Southern Poverty Law Center is assisting with information related to investigation of campus hate groups.
I also ask for your help. Every one of us must support every other member of the community who feels uncomfortable or threatened by the appearance of hate on our campus. We must look out for each other, we must speak out against hate, we must walk side by side with those who do not want to walk alone.
We must be vigilant. We should be aware of our surroundings and immediately call the Department of Public Safety at 852-6111 if something seems out of order. I must note that putting on a showcase by burning evidence and playing cruel jokes that contribute to fear and rumor make it much more difficult for the university to get to the root of these issues. We must be better than this as a community.
The question of safety is critically important. Some have said that we are responding to the two people who say they represent the KKK with "diplomacy," as though we are somehow inviting or welcoming them to campus when we notify them of our rules and expectations and make sure they know they will be held accountable for abiding by them. That's absolutely not true; we are not welcoming this group to campus. In fact, we have declined their request to receive money for speaking here.
Again, our primary concern is campus safety. If we talk with these two people, we are in a somewhat better position to know their intentions and to take appropriate safety precautions. We are better off if we try to establish and know where they will be and share that information with students, faculty and staff who may wish to avoid them.
Dialogue, Education and Unity
Even as we work to address immediate safety concerns, we must also work to improve our understanding of the issues we face and how they relate to the larger society. As an educational community, we have a responsibility to share information and talk openly about issues while respecting that we bring different perspectives that cannot be characterized as either right or wrong to the discussion. Many people on campus have worked to move us forward in these areas, and I know that other ideas will come to the table. Here are the plans to date:
We will renew president/provost forums with students. We started these last year but stopped them so we would not be in conflict with the efforts of our Student Government Association. But we feel this regular interaction is important and valuable.
We are scheduling a meeting with African American leaders in the metropolitan community to exchange information and ideas.
We met last week and will continue to meet with city leaders to exchange information and ideas and develop joint strategies to address the apparent growth in hate group activity throughout the community. These issues are not limited to our campus.
Our library staff is creating a bibliography of relevant resources on hate groups, the First Amendment and other related subjects. We will share this information on this Web site.
Several of our deans have been working on a Day of Dialogue for administrators, faculty, staff and students. It will include discussions of what we value as a community and panel discussions with faculty experts on subjects such as "Hate in the United States" and "Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and the Law."
Our student life office has developed a 1Campus! unity initiative that will include a soon-to-be-scheduled rally for unity and solidarity, a forum to discuss students' vision for the university, teach-ins and regular diversity workshops.
We will develop a campus-wide diversity awareness initiative for all faculty and staff, which will complement other programs currently in progress.
All of these steps are in addition to on-going diversity initiatives that include the implementation and monitoring of a new university-wide diversity plan, initiatives to incorporate diversity concepts within the curriculum, a student leadership initiative, and programs to improve the retention and graduation rates of students of color.
We are making progress. U of L was the only Kentucky university to achieve seven of eight diversity goals related to recruitment, retention and hiring under the federally mandated Kentucky Plan. That demonstrates progress, but we have much yet to do.
Two Issues
Two other important issues have been raised in our discussions. We have had a number of calls to end our relationship with WHAS radio or to demand changes at the station. This is because many believe, and I agree, that it has contributed to campus tensions by misrepresenting our intentions and distorting facts. Provost Willihnganz and I will meet with station representatives this week to discuss these concerns, the values of the station and our future relationship. Our first step is to work to see if we can repair this relationship, hold the station accountable for accuracy, and seek opportunities that will benefit the university and the greater community.
We have also heard from many who want us to ban hate groups from our campus. We have heard from passionate, committed students, faculty, staff and others who do not want the Klan or any group like them on this campus under any circumstances. We have heard from equally passionate, committed students, faculty, staff and others who want to ensure that we protect the rights of everyone under the Constitution. These are not opposing views, and they both speak to the most important question at hand: What kind of community do we want to be?
Let me start this very important discussion by sharing my own views on this question.
I am one of the people who does not want the Klan on campus. I feel very strongly about this. They promote hate and separation, they have a terrible history that inspires fear, and they go against my personal values as well as those of this institution.
I am also one who wants to ensure that every member of our community has a voice. I believe that we cannot move forward as an intellectual community unless we can responsibly and respectfully hear and debate ideas, even those that may be unpopular. The difficulty is that to protect our own voices, our own hard-earned rights, we cannot selectively exclude the voices of others, no matter how distasteful they may be, as long as the individuals expressing those views abide by the law and by our own long-established practices.
In fact, our commitment to the Constitution and free expression is at the heart of our mission as an institution. Our trustees agree to uphold the Constitution when they are sworn in as members of the board. Our own governing document, the Redbook, says in its section on academic policies and procedures: "Membership in the academic community imposes on students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees of the University an obligation to adhere to standards of academic honesty, to respect the dignity of others, to acknowledge their right to express differing opinions, and to foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiring and instruction, and free expression both on and off campus."
We have heard and closely studied every thoughtful argument that has been made. We have heard that the Klan should not be allowed on campus because the very mention of it makes people feel afraid, because the Klan has a history as a terrorist organization, because of what could transpire, because of the environment their presence creates for many if not all members of our community. We have asked all of the same questions, pushing as hard as we could to determine what lines we might be able to draw.
We found that the courts that have interpreted our Constitution have said clearly that none of these arguments qualifies as a valid reason to bar this or any other group. Even so, we believe we may determine the time, place and manner in which they may be on campus to distribute literature, and we do not have to allow them to hold an unsponsored rally or march on our campus. And there are many steps we can take to help our community feel more secure and to bring us together to drown out voices of hate with stronger voices of unity. These issues are explored more thoroughly in a question and answer document and a PowerPoint presentation available on this Web site.
Although we cannot suddenly change our practices to address this group, we can look longer term. I'm asking a committee to review all of our policies and practices regarding external groups to make recommendations for change that we would apply uniformly in the future. Meanwhile, we will place any group that comes to campus to pass out fliers in an area where we can best provide safety and security and minimize disruption to the academic process.
If one of these groups should come, and I must note that we have no current requests for space and time to hand out fliers, we will advise the community so that you can make a choice about where you want to be. We will provide alternative activities and opportunities to express opposing views, and we will not tolerate any actions that violate university rules or laws. In addition, we will work with other police agencies to enhance security. We also continue to investigate the source of fliers that are appearing on campus in places that we do not traditionally allow fliers of any kind.
In short, we have three very important goals:
- We must take a community stand against hate and support members of our community who are the subjects of hate.
- We must take steps to enhance safety on campus.
- We must support the principles of the Constitution and our commitment to academic freedom and "free expression on and off campus."
I commit to you that we can and will do all three.
Final thoughts
What can you do to help? Pay attention to your surroundings and call 852-6111 if you see something unusual; do not address the situation yourself. Support each other: Walk across campus together, listen, discuss and exchange ideas. Participate in forums, the Day of Dialogue and teach-ins to learn more about the issues we face. Speak out against hate as a member of our community.
You may also go to the frequently asked questions and answers; links to sites about hate groups, the First Amendment and other subjects; and a place to share your own ideas and thoughts. We want to hear from you.
I've been asked more than once when this will be "over." We are working hard to address the immediate issues we face, but our quest to create a welcoming and comfortable environment for every one of our students, faculty and staff will never be over. We will not be deterred, even when people who espouse hate work to send us backwards. We can best stand in their way by working together to address hate as a united community. I ask for your help, your ideas and your support as we move forward.
James R. Ramsey
President