Early last week, as we were enduring the worst of our recent freeze, I was surprised to find certain University-centered pockets of the internet ablaze with passionate discourse in response to a semi-viral video taken on campus.
In the clip, a small group of students gathered atop the campus mounds on Dalrymple as they watched one of their peers hurdle down the slope in a kayak.
A handful of local group chats, comment sections and Facebook communities erupted into a rather volatile debate, going head-to-head on what to make of the event.
Many were quick to dismiss the incident as harmless student shenanigans. After all, we almost never have snow days down here — what could be so wrong with a few students making the most of the unique conditions?
From what I could tell, many in this camp were alumni who seemed to be citing their own student experiences as justification for the debacle. Some even went as far as to argue that the students had done nothing wrong because the mounds were, in their words, nothing more than “a pile of dirt.”
Others, keeping in mind the age and cultural significance of the mounds, were infuriated that not only such a thing could be allowed to happen but that a video of the incident could be happily passed around and laughed off as innocent college fun.
Admittedly, the news hit rather close to home for me. The precarious predicament of the campus mounds is a topic that I have been thinking and writing about for quite some time now.
Having spent my first year of undergrad at North Hall, the mounds were a constant fixture of my daily life and routine. I would walk down the sidewalk in between the two every day on my way to class.
Although I certainly had a basic idea of the mounds’ significance as an ancient religious site, it was not until I began noticing others interacting with them so carelessly that I began to do more research and write about the urgent need for their preservation.
Clearly, last week’s debacle was not an isolated incident. It is simply the most recent iteration of a long history of relentless neglect and disrespect.
The mounds have been subject to decades of abuse from generations of students, alumni and rowdy tailgate goers.
It was not until somewhat recently that the site received gameday fencing and relatively clear historical demarcation. While obviously a step in the right direction, the events of last week have proven that the occasional fence and a measly sign are not nearly enough.
Recent statements issued by both the Native American Student Organization and Democracy at Work LSU did the necessary work of laying out and confronting this history of neglect, even demonstrating how this specific fiasco is inextricably tied to much larger social and historical frameworks.
I had the honor of speaking with some of the student leaders at the forefront of this battle to hold the wider community accountable to its responsibility for the mounds.
Communication disorders senior Shea Ferguson, an active member of NASO and the Delaware tribe of Oklahoma, was appalled but not surprised by the viral video, remarking, “It shows how uninformed the community is about the mounds. They are important and fragile.”
Ferguson went on to detail her experience in trying to muster support for the cause: contacting administration to request appropriate protections and even personally reaching out to LSUPD to keep people off the mounds.
“I’ve seen verbal support, but we need action now,” she said, insisting that the continuous niceties and pats on the head from the administration have long grown old and needs to be backed with substantive action.
Political science freshman and University College Center for Freshman Year senator John Griswold is a recent addition to the wave of student support for the mounds.
“The behavior of students…sledding down the mounds was irresponsible and destructive.” Griswold noted. “As of late, I have been asking the rhetorical question: ‘Would you allow someone to play on Stonehenge or the pyramids?’ We must think of the mounds in the same light. The sledding debacle, as well as this coming Student Government resolution, will serve as a wakeup call.”
Having been born and raised in southern Louisiana, I understand and sympathize with the desire to make the most out of snow days that are so few and far between. However, to dismiss any defense of the mounds as mere prudishness or over-sensitivity is clearly ridiculous.
In all honesty, I cannot believe that this is actually a conversation that needs to be had. The mounds are an ancient archeological site with immense cultural significance. Is it not common sense to think that they should be set apart and preserved? Like Griswold mentioned, would we not do the same for other sites of such stature?
As gross and ignorant as those remarks about the mounds being nothing more than “a pile of dirt” may be, I have trouble seeing this problem purely as an issue of individuals. Rather, this is the failure of an entire community.
It seems to me that the University is responsible for fostering this dismissive attitude over the years. Why should people see the mounds as more than a pile of dirt when the institution tasked with their protection has done so little to make them seem otherwise?
Yet, on perhaps an overly optimistic note, I have hope that this could be a turning point in the long pursuit of justice for the mounds.
This recent sledding incident, although incredibly unfortunate, has managed to spark a long overdue community-wide discussion. For the first time in my recollection, the University’s obscene neglect for these landmarks is being actively considered and deliberated by a large portion of the student body.
Following the lead of student leaders like Ferguson and Griswold, perhaps the publicity of this moment can be seized as an opportunity to hold the University accountable and demonstrate just how dire this situation is.
Evan Leonhard is a 19-year-old English and philosophy sophomore from New Orleans.