The University of North Dakota is taking proactive steps to encourage cultural awareness this Halloween.
Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Sandra Mitchell, who began working in the newly created position this summer, published a memo Tuesday reminding the campus community to be mindful of their costume choices this Halloween.
“This time of year we do see things on college campuses all over the country. So many schools do this to remind folks, so that we’re not cleaning up afterward,” Mitchell said. “It’s to say, ‘Remember what you do has an impact on others in the community.’”
Michelle Kozel, program coordinator at UND’s American Indian Student Services, said she was glad the memo went out because even though everyone has varied opinions concerning what is and isn’t offensive, it’s a good time of year to remind people to be aware.
“There’s that whole diverse spectrum of how students feel about it. But for some, they dread Halloween every single year,” she said. “They dread their kids coming home in tears.”
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‘A message for everybody’
This comes after public uproar in May when some students wore shirts with the phrase “Siouxper Drunk” on them to an annual festival attended mainly by college students. UND’s Gamma Phi Beta sorority also hung a banner around that time that some deemed racist in reference to UND’s old Fighting Sioux nickname.
That same house was reprimanded in 2008 for holding a “Cowboys and Indians” theme party a year prior where attendees dressed up as sexualized Indians.
April Thompson, an American Indian student at UND, said she thought the memo was a step in the right direction.
“It’s good that she did it. But it’s sad knowing she has to do something like this because of how the community is,” she said. “There is far too much insensitivity that is tolerated on campus.”
But Mitchell said her note wasn’t in response to any one incident and she sent something similar out at her previous job as chief diversity officer at Regis University in Denver.
“Please be aware that making the choice to dress up as someone from another culture, even with the intention of being humorous and not disrespectful, can lead to inaccurate and hurtful portrayals of other peoples’ heritages,” the memo said.
Mitchell also wrote even costumes sold by mainstream retailers might be offensive.
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“Examples may include wearing makeup so as to completely alter your skin color to simulate that of a person of another race or wearing clothing that exaggerates or distorts the cultural heritage and traditions of others,” the memo said.
The note was published Tuesday on the University Letter for faculty and staff but will continue to be distributed around campus via email.
“It’s not a message just for students, it’s a message for everybody,” Mitchell said.
UND student Laura Slaathaug is the spokeswoman for the African Student Union and said in the five years she has been at the school she has seen issues arise when students have dressed up in Indian attire.
But Slaathaug said she appreciated the attempt to educate people about being aware of all kinds of cultural issues.
Mitchell said she doesn’t have any targeted inclusion efforts planned yet, but that educational programming and other diversity-themed events are in the works.
Online: View the whole memo at http://bit.ly/1u10vpp .
