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Plaque's removal may be SCSU milestone
By Britt Johnsen, Leslie Andres & Kristen J. Kubisiak
The issue: Students recently voiced their concerns over a plaque honoring an anti-American Indian woman.
What we think: The university should remove the offending plaque, especially since President Saigo has recently spoken out against the use of American Indian mascots.
Tuesday saw a modest gathering of students, faculty and staff protesting outside Shoemaker Hall where a plaque honoring Jane Grey Swisshelm is located.
Swisshelm was a champion of women's rights, an abolitionist and journalist. It is for this that she is recognized with a plaque on SCSU's grounds.
Unfortunately, she was also an outspoken anti-American Indian.
Over the past year, President Saigo has taken on the responsibility of making SCSU a university that not only respects diversity and rejects racism, but sets a standard for other universities as well.
President Saigo has expressed a great desire to fulfill this responsibility. Granting the requests of the protesters outside of Shoemaker Hall to remove the questionable plaque would be just the way to send a message to the community that SCSU will not accept racism in any of its forms.
The editorial board recognizes the many achievements of Swisshelm, her dedication to women's rights, as well as her journalistic integrity. However, if we are to have a campus that is free of discrimination and respectful of student feeling, the necessary step for President Saigo is to remove the plaque from campus.
Removing the offending plaque also would go hand-in-hand with President Saigo's efforts to get the NCAA and WCHA to ban the use of American Indian nicknames, mascots and logos among its members. However President Saigo responds to this situation will send a message to the students and surrrounding community.
Nathan Church, vice president for student life and development, has said that the university hopes to come to a mutually satisfying conclusion after talks with the students who organized the protest. Whatever the outcome of the talks, however, we applaud the students who identified the plaque and its underlying anti-American Indian implications.
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