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Obama skit prompts an investigation

By Joseph Marks and Benny Polacca, Forum Communications
Published Saturday, March 29, 2008

North Dakota State University President Joseph Chapman expressed
disappointment Friday about an all-student skit mocking U.S. presidential
hopeful Barack Obama.

The March 18 skit — which ignited complaints of racial insensitivity —
involved the NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club and was performed during the
annual Mr. NDSU pageant, which is sponsored by the Alpha Gamma Delta
sorority.

“The students’ actions were entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated
as the Office of the Dean of Student Life moves forward with an
investigation,” Chapman said Friday in a written statement. “NDSU does not
and will not ignore acts of intolerance at our institution and or in our
community.”

His statement comes the same day The Forum reported on the lip-sync act in
which a white student — wearing dark makeup and an Afro wig — portrayed
Obama receiving a lap dance. In the background, two male students dressed
as cowboys simulated anal sex while holding an Obama sign that one student
ripped at the end of the 30-second skit.

A complaint was filed with NDSU’s Student Activities Office regarding the
skit.

News of the skit was picked up by The Associated Press on Friday, which
unsuccessfully called the Obama campaign for comment.

Other North Dakota higher education officials responded to the incident
Friday.

“It’s certainly behavior that’s not acceptable. We need to be matter of
fact about that,” said Bill Goetz, chancellor for the university system.
“We have to be sensitive to these issues, and behavior of this sort cannot
be tolerated and should not be accepted.”

State higher education board President John Q. Paulsen echoed Goetz’s
comments.

“I certainly was concerned when I read the (NDSU blackface) article in the
paper this morning, as I was when I read about the UND party,” he said,
referring to a UND sorority party held last November.

UND party

Guests at the UND party — hosted by the Gamma Phi Beta sorority — dressed
in faux Native American regalia and red face and body paint. Native
American students filed complaints after one of them found photos of the
party on Gamma Phi president Anastasia Ginda’s Facebook account. The
sorority is on temporary social probation while the university investigates
the party photo complaints.

Both university incidents come at inopportune times.

The UND sorority party took place the same month the school signed a
settlement agreement with the NCAA. It ended a yearlong,
multimillion-dollar lawsuit over the school’s Fighting Sioux sports
nickname, which is a longtime source of white-Native American tension on
campus.

The Forum’s report on the NDSU skit comes one week before Obama is slated
to give the keynote address at the state Democratic convention in Grand
Forks.

“While the actions of the (NDSU) students are regrettable and disturbing,
the incident offers an opportunity to take the campus community more deeply
into an understanding of the harmful nature of prejudice,” Chapman said.
“I’m asking the NDSU President’s Diversity Council and the Anti-Racism Team
to continue to work with our campus community to ensure that incidents of
these kinds do not occur.”

‘Tricky situation’

NDSU’s undergraduate enrollment is 10,403. Ninety-two percent of the
student body is white and 1.5 percent identify themselves as black.

NDSU Dean of Students Janna Stoskopf said officials will determine if
discipline is warranted for the organizations or the individuals involved.
Officials also have to weigh the distinction between inappropriate behavior
and free speech, she said.

“It’s a very tricky situation,” Stoskopf said.

The investigation could take until the end of the school year.

Sanctions could be a written warning, probation, suspension or expulsion.

There have been occasions when leaders of organizations have also been
disciplined, Stoskopf said.

Because of federal privacy laws, officials can’t disclose if anyone is
disciplined. Sanctions that an organization receives would be public
information, she said.

Forum reporter Amy Dalrymple contributed to this report

Polacca is a reporter for the Forum and Marks is a reporter for the Herald.
Both newspapers are owned by Forum Communications Co.