PURDUE UNIVERSITY
INDIANAPOLIS
Administration Building, Suite 136
355 N. Lansing Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896
317-274-7711
Fax: 317-274-5457
|
INDIANA
UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS |
COMMUNICATIONS
& MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457 |
Open Letter To The IUPUI Community,
Our IUPUI family has been hurt by hate in the form of two different fliers that have been found on our campus, over the last four weeks. The first flier was posted some time between 5:00pm on January 12, 2001 and 8:40am on January 13, 2001. Five of these flyers were found in the Engineering/Science & Technology (SL) building. The second flyer was reported on February 12, 2001 and was also found in the Engineering/Science & Technology (SL) building. These fliers can only be described as racist, misogynistic, and hate mongering. The creation, duplication, and posting of these flyers are antithetical to the mission of our campus. Over the last month, both the university police and the university office of affirmative action have been conducting investigations; the Deans, Vice Chancellors and Chancellor have been in discussion regarding this matter, which resulted in the authoring of this statement.
This letter to our community is a condemnation of these statements of racial divisiveness. We must actively refuse to allow the campus climate to be affected by this poison and instead double our commitment to creating programs, services, and policies that will continue to strengthen our respect and appreciation of each other as a community of learners.
In 1997, Chancellor Bepko eloquently outlined in a memorandum on civility to all students, faculty, and staff that:
". . . among our values is academic freedom and an open exchange of ideas and opinions. However when there are messages displayed that promote divisiveness in our academic community, we have an obligation to condemn those messages as being antithetical to our university ideals and sense of shared responsibility for each others welfare. If we are to be true to our commitment to diversity and be welcoming to all, everyone must do his or her part. We know the terrible legacy of unopposed statements of racial divisiveness and diatribe. If we don't discourage such statements, they become insidiously acceptable and poison the climate of trust and respect we strive to maintain. When apathy leads us to permit discrimination or harassment because we ourselves are not objects of such behavior, we have failed our community." (Statement On Civility, 1997)
It is regrettable to inform the students, faculty and staff of IUPUI of a hate-related incident on our campus but we firmly believe that the only way to confront the cowards that created and distributed these fliers is to expose their efforts and make it clear that they stand alone and apart from the rest of the university community.
The university is currently investigating these incidents. When it becomes known who created and posted these flyers, appropriate action will be taken to the greatest extent possible. We strongly encourage any member of the IUPUI family who has any information regarding these incidents to please contact our university police at 274-7911 or the Office of Affirmative Action at 274-2306.
There is no place for hate at IUPUI.
Gerald L. Bepko
Chancellor, IUPUI
William M. Plater
Executive Vice
Chancellor
Dean of the Faculties
Trudy Banta
Vice Chancellor
Planning
and Institutional Improvement
Mark L. Brenner
Vice Chancellor
Research
& Graduate Programs
Robert E. Martin
Vice Chancellor
Administration and Finance
Cheryl Sullivan
Vice Chancellor
External
Affairs
Karen Whitney
Vice Chancellor
Student
Life and Diversity
Darrell Bailey
Associate Dean of
Informatics,
& Director, School of New Media
Paul R. Bippen
Dean, Indiana University-Purdue
University Columbus
Erwin Boschmann
Associate Vice President
for Distributed Education
D. Craig Brater
Dean, School of Medicine
James W. Brown
Associate Dean, School
of Journalism
Valerie Eickmeier
Dean, Herron School
of Art
Garland C. Elmore
Dean, Information
Technology & Associate Vice President
Scott Evenbeck
Dean, University College
Lawrence I. Goldblatt
Dean, School
of Dentistry
Gerardo M. Gonzalez
University Dean,
School of Education
Phillip K. Hardwick
Vice President,
IU Foundation
P. Nicholas Kellum
Dean, School of
Physical Education
Norman Lefstein
Dean, School of Law
David Lewis
Dean, University Library
Angela McBride
University Dean, School
of Nursing
Phil Rutledge
Interim Dean, School
of Public and Environmental Affairs
Michael Patchner
Dean, School of
Social Work
David Peters
Director, School of
Music Programs for Indianapolis
Herman J. Saatkamp
Dean, School of
Liberal Arts
Roger W. Schmenner
Associate Dean,
Kelley School of Business
Mark Sothmann
Dean, School of Allied
Health
David L. Stocum
Dean, School of Science
Eugene R. Tempel
Executive Director,
Center on Philanthropy
Barbara Wilcox
Executive Associate
Dean, School of Education
Oner Yurtseven
Dean, Engineering
and Technology