Baylor U. Students Hang A Noose, Light a Fire

The Baylor Lariat has produced this statement from Baylor University Interim President David Garland. Read below or click here.

Baylor police reported today on three disturbing incidents that occurred on our campus yesterday.

Late Tuesday afternoon we were notified of a single clothesline rope that had been seen in a tree on campus. The individuals who discovered it believed it had the appearance of a noose. Baylor police are now in possession of the rope and continue to speak with students who observed the rope in the tree and are gathering additional information about the origin of the rope.

Last evening, police investigated a small fire in a barbecue pit adjacent to Brooks Flats in which it was alleged several Obama/Biden campaign signs had been burned.

Finally, police were called late last evening to a disturbance outside Penland Hall, where a shouting match had occurred between two small groups of white and African-American students.

These events are deeply disturbing to us and are antithetical to the mission of Baylor University. We categorically denounce and will not tolerate racist acts of any kind on our campus.

Further, we are committed to maintaining the safety and unity of our campus community. We wish to celebrate and strengthen inclusiveness, understanding and acceptance of all members of the Baylor family.

As they have thus far, Baylor police will respond quickly and decisively to any additional situations of this nature. Faculty, staff and students with information pertaining to any of the incidents we've described are urged to contact Baylor police at 710-2222.

Baylor has specific policies regarding expectations of civility and respect on our campus. Those policies, which we endorse and enforce, can be found at http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=39242.

Faculty, staff and students also participate in on-going weekly meetings hosted by our department of multicultural activities called "Frankly Speaking" in which issues of the day are discussed in a respectful and civil manner. The goal of "Frankly Speaking" is for participants to feel comfortable expressing their opinions and beliefs within a safe environment. The meetings are held in the Bill Daniel Student Center each Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and members of the Baylor community are invited to participate.

We believe that the incidents on our campus yesterday were irresponsible acts committed by a few individuals. As a community we condemn these terribly unfortunate events that do not represent the values we share as members of the Baylor family.

Not sure what to make of this statement from Baylor's Interim President. When racists go public with their racism, I prefer to hear a little tough talk - maybe the author of the statement should have mentioned somewhere along the way that Baylor's mission is a distinctly Christian mission. And Baylor University is a distinctly Christian University, an historically Baptist University. There are plenty of reasons why our Christian faith demands that such racist acts must be denounced. Such religious reasons were unfortunately noticeably absent from the statement above.

No surprise that racism is alive and well on the campus of Baylor University. Racism is alive and well on the campuses of both Christian Universities and state Universities like my alma mater, University of Georgia. One need only stroll down Greek Row in Athens on Game-Day and see all the Confederate Flags to know that deep racial divisions still exist on college campuses. Every school has their hardcore racists and every school has a larger group of racists who express their racism in much more subtle ways.

Although, in light of these three incidents, I'd say that Baylor might need to get-in-the-game and address these problems that clearly exist within the community. Not sure that a one-hour voluntary, multi-cultural roundtable discussion that most students have probably never heard of is getting the job done.