Members of African-American organizations on campus said they are not pleased with the administration’s reaction to the discovery of a toilet paper noose in Sullivan Shops Building D Thursday, and the groups’ feelings will become clear in forums in the coming week.
The N.C. State chapter of the NAACP will hold “Let’s Talk About It — Jena 6 Part II, It’s Time to Act” in Poe 216 from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, and Candace Lee, the event’s organizer, said the noose incident will be discussed.
“We’re going to discuss hate crimes and reasons behind hate crimes,” Lee, a junior in computer and electrical engineering, said.
She said the chapter is inviting everyone to come and will be sending invitations to the leaders of all student organizations. She and her group are not satisfied with the administrations’ handling of the incident, she said.
“African Americans should be angrier,” Lee said. “We will not tolerate hate crimes toward anyone on this campus, ever.”
The administration needs to set repercussions for the person who made the noose, and it should not be treated like a normal crime alert, according to Meshawn Chalmers, vice president of Society of African American Cultures and junior in psychology and Africana studies.
“The Chancellor should issue another statement,” Chalmers said.
The original e-mail sent to react to the incident, she said, did not have any emotion or a strong enough message that this sort of incident will not be tolerated.
They need to be transparent in their investigation and keep students informed of what is happening, and they have been inefficient in finding the culprit, she said.
Lee said the administration needs to prosecute whoever made the noose, no matter who it is or what their ethnicity.
According to Chalmers, administrators had a meeting with Sullivan staff to discuss feelings about the incident and help them cope, but she thought this was unnecessary when they should be furthering the investigation.
“Holding a meeting is not acceptable,” she said. “How can you hold a meeting with 31,000 students?”
There have been talks about a rally and a possible town meeting to counter the administration’s response, Chalmers said.
“When you don’t take full recognition [of the issue’s seriousness], it angers a lot of people in the African-American community,” she said.
“I think the administration knows we’re serious,” Lee said. “It shouldn’t take them any time to know that African Americans won’t tolerate it on campus.”
But Lee said she had anticipated that this sort of incident would happen at N.C. State. When many non-minority students who are not accustomed to diversity come to a predominantly-white campus, she said, it is not hard to believe that something like this could happen.
Some hope that if there is enough push from the African American community, the likelihood of more similar incidents will decrease, according to Christina Cox, president of SAAC.
“If we make a strong enough statement, we won’t have to worry about it continuing,” she said.
The materials used to make the noose were less important than its possible message, Lee said.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s tissue or a rope, if it’s a noose,” she said.
