The University is making plans to prevent violence in Baton Rouge following the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and at the University of Virginia.
On Aug. 17, LSU President F. King Alexander announced white supremacist Richard Spencer has reached out to the University but is not welcome.
“We will take the necessary precautions to ensure that our campus is safe from violence,” Alexander told The Advocate. “That our students and faculty are safe from people trying to stir up troubles.”
LSU’s Black Student Union President Cierra Chenier said that she was pleased to see the University take a stand against the white supremacist. She said all students should feel safe on campus, and if a white supremacist were allowed to speak here, she and other minority students would not feel safe.
“People from across the country associate Louisiana with two things: New Orleans and LSU,” Chenier said. “I think removing these monuments or barring someone like Richard Spencer from campus makes a good statement to where our University stands on racism.”
The Black Student Union, Chenier said, acts as the umbrella for all black student organizations. The BSU holds monthly “Real Talks” where students can get together and discuss current events, attend panels or participate in guided discussion.
“During times like this, institutions like to shy away from forming opinions or condemning actions like what occurred in Charlottesville,” Chenier said. “I know that minority students don’t make up a large portion of our campus but we are here.”
Chenier said the events in Charlottesville will likely be the subject of the organization’s September event.
“We sometimes do a Twitter poll or send an email to our students asking what they’d like to discuss,” Chenier said. “People come with heavy heart to discuss what is going on today. We get a lot of different opinions, you’d be surprised at all the different perspectives that we get.”
On Aug. 29, the Office of Diversity, along with the Law Center and the George W. and Jean H. Pugh Institute for Justice, will host a panel at McKernan Auditorium to discuss the events in Charlottesville — the causes and the reactions.
“We’ve always strive to have an open dialogue between students, faculty and staff,” said Vice Provost for Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Derek J. Rovaris. “Our best weapon has been, and will continue to be, preparation and communication.”
Rovaris said the University has policies in place to allow the students, faculty and staff to utilize their freedom of speech; however, there are also policies to protect the safety and security of the campus and community. He said this is why the University is no longer in a position to host a speaker like Richard Spencer.
“We would’ve been able to host someone like that and keep the distraction to a minimum,” Rovaris said. “We’ve told his people ‘no’ because of the violence at UVA.”
The University has previously hosted controversial speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos. Rovaris said he believes the University has been prepared in this past because of its relationship with campus police, campus leaders and student activists.
“We would never have tiki torches being marched up and down our campus,” Rovaris said. “That is just a symbol of vitriol we would never allow.”
Rovaris said while recent events have reignited discussion about the University’s Confederate-named properties, they are not the cause.
“It’s not being discussed because of Charlottesville, there have been discussions for years,” Rovaris said. “There are a number of buildings on campus, and one street that I know of that are named after [Confederates.] This is something we’ve inherited and we probably shouldn’t have.”
There are a number of buildings on campus, including several residential halls, which are named for Confederate soldiers, including Kirby Smith Hall and Beauregard Hall. Raphael Semmes Road, which runs directly in front of the Student Union and the University bookstore, is named for an officer in the Confederate Navy.
“Timing is going to be interesting because we don’t want to incite confusion or chaos in the community,” Rovaris said. “There is a way to do everything. If we decide to rename, we will find a way to do that but this warrants some study and research. When doing something like this you want to make sure you’re doing it in the right way, for the right reason.”
He said he urges students who want to protest be well-researched on what they are protesting, and for them to be organized.
“When protests happened in the 1960s, it was very well organized,” Rovaris said. “Someone was protesting, someone worked the legal team, someone documented the events, someone ran the car pool, someone paid bail money. Protests today need to organized along the same level.”
Chenier said what is important is that the white supremacists in Charlottesville did not feel the need to cover up.
“Here we are in 2017, and at an assembly with the KKK and neo-Nazis, people didn’t feel the need to cover their faces,” Chenier said. “I think that is very telling of where we are as a nation. It’s now so acceptable to be a racist that they believe there are no consequences.”
Chenier said she believes, going forward, it is important for people to be aware of all kinds of racism.
“It’s easy to call the KKK racist, but it’s harder when it’s something like housing discrimination or pay equality,” Chenier said. “Racism comes in all forms. I’m disgusted by the blatant display of hatred, but I’m equally disgusted by the systematic, everyday racism that we see. It’s not always tangible, but it’s there.”
