The following opinion-editorial was submitted by six concerned Clemson University students: Zach Talley, Miller Hall, Clayton Warnke, Kyle Brady, Alexander Cullen, Mitchell Gunter and Jack Timmerman. It is a follow-up to a previously-published opinion-editorial entitled “Unanswered Questions At Clemson University.”
Clemson University’s reputation has been damaged in recent months by an allegedly “racist” incident that sparked a nine-day campus protest.
Here are the facts.
On Monday, April 11, bananas were found hanging from a banner commemorating the contributions of African-Americans to Clemson University. Almost immediately, a group of perpetually self-promoting campus agitators posted a photograph of the hanging bananas to social media. This small faction then constructed a narrative clearly implying that the perpetrators were white racists.
Their message was clear: Clemson University is a racist institution. Their goal was to smear Clemson University and its students, to induce a sense of collective racial guilt, and to fundamentally transform Clemson.
Later that day, Chris Miller, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students, issued the following statement addressed to the Clemson community: “Clemson University does not tolerate racist or intolerant activities and behavior of any kind. We will respond accordingly when those boundaries are violated and will use the full force of our adjudication process to sanction all who may be involved.”
On Wednesday, April 13, student protestors (urged on by a few faculty and administrative supporters) launched a slick, media-driven, nine-day protest on the steps of Sikes Hall triggered by the “racist” banana incident.
There was only one problem with this narrative: It wasn’t true! It was based on a lie. Even worse, the CU administration knew the narrative was false from day one and did nothing about it.
How do we know this?
The truth was only revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request we submitted to the university. Internal documents clearly show that the banana perpetrators had turned themselves in to the administration on the same day the hanging bananas were found. More importantly, internal CU memos demonstrate the hanging bananas had nothing to do with racism (it was actually a prank related to noisy campus construction).
From the beginning, CU administrators knew that the incident had nothing to do with racism. And yet, inexplicably, they remained silent. They could have thwarted the protest then and there, but they chose to remain silent.
Instead, in the words of one administrator, Almeda Jacks, they used the banana incident as a “teachable moment.” The “teachable moment” turned out to be a nine-day protest that traumatized and publicly embarrassed the university.
Sadly, the Clemson administration was complicit (we assume unintentionally) in a campus protest that was based on a lie—a lie that brought shame to Clemson University by exposing its alleged racism.
The demonstrators then gave CU administrators a list of demands that they expected the university to accept and implement. On Thursday, April 21, President Jim Clements sent a letter to the entire university completely capitulating to the demands of the protestors.
Of particular note, President Clements pledged that the university would:
- Require “all employees [to] participate in diversity education and training that promotes cultural competencies and awareness.”
- Restructure “The CU1000 course . . . to improve students’ understanding of their responsibility as members of a diverse community.”
What does this politically correct language mean? It means two things: CU will require (i.e., force) faculty and staff to participate in mandatory diversity training, and it will require (i.e., force) students to take a course in multicultural indoctrination.
Let’s be clear: These demands will transform CU from an institution of higher learning to an institution of higher indoctrination.
It is our hope that CU alumni, the Board of Trustees, and South Carolina legislators will ask and answer one question: what will happen to students and faculty who refuse to participate in the university’s new indoctrination program?
Clemson alumni, the Board of Trustees, and SC legislators have a responsibility to protect the academic integrity of Clemson University. More particularly, they have a responsibility to protect Clemson students from unjust smears and lies. We hope they will.
It’s time for those who care about Clemson University to “Do the Right Thing.” Please help us to save the university that we love so much.
The six signatories of this editorial are students at Clemson University.
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