Cropped photo published in Lawrence University’s annual report showing a racist slur scrawled on a wall. (Photo/Lawrence University Annual Report)
Amid allegations of racism on its Appleton, Wis., campus, Lawrence University inadvertently published a photo in its recent annual report that contained a clearly visible racial slur.
In the black-and-white image, university President Mark Burstein and his cabinet are posed against a graffiti-covered wall in the campus’ Main Hall, a place where students routinely sneaked in and wrote their names and other slogans, university spokesman Craig Gagnon told Madison365.com.
But neither the photographer, subjects of the photos, nor the reports’ editors and proofreaders saw the n-word scrawled in white paint against the dark backdrop above an administrator’s head. And, the situation only came to their notice when a faculty member pointed it out.
“There’s lots and lots of graffiti in there, and none of it is offensive, except for that one. It’s not artificially lit. It wasn’t easy to see,” Gagnon said of why the epithet was overlooked.
But not everyone agrees, saying the blunder was another in a long list of grievances against students of color by the administration.
“It’s so visible. It’s something that you could clearly see. There really is no excuse,” said Lawrence senior Oumou Cisse.
Cisse led a protest against racism on campus last October, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent. A group of minority students met with Burstein in November to discuss their concerns and present a letter of demands, which included mandatory cultural sensitivity training. According to a 2014 report from the university, approximately a quarter of that year’s freshman class were students of color.
“This essentially validates our concerns and justifies our concerns with the administration and with the institution,” Cisse told the Post-Crescent of the offensive image. “Because this is a clear-cut example of a group of people standing in front of the n-word and essentially being completely oblivious and just smiling at it.”
President Burstein has said he would consider the students’ concerns, which he admitted were underlined by the offensive image. He also sent an e-mail to the university community apologizing for the mistake in the report.
“This language has no place in our community or any other,” he wrote. “The appearance of this word should not have escaped our notice, and I apologize to the entire Lawrence community of students, staff, faculty, parents and alumni.”
Approximately 14,000 people received a printed copy of the annual report. The graffiti has since been removed, Gagnon told the Post-Crescent, and the school has used software to remove the slur in a new version of the publication.