YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio
Antioch College officials are trying to
decide whether to discipline four students who tied a noose around the
neck of a Black mannequin and hung it from a tree.
“Their intent wasn’t racial,” said Scott Warren, Antioch’s dean of
students. “Their intent was kind of to do a crazy stunt. But people are
accountable for the consequences of their actions regardless of their
intentions.”
Antioch has refused to’ release the names or races of the students
involved. Approximately 7 percent of the Antioch student body’s 500
students are Black.
The first-year male students admitted at a community meeting last
month that they were responsible for hanging the mannequin from a tree
on campus.
Warren said the students appeared credible when they said it never
occurred to them that the “charcoal-colored” mannequin, which they had
taken from the college’s art department, might be seen as representing
a Black person. He described the students’ demeanor at the three-hour
meeting as “humble, remorseful, and apologetic,” and said they appeared
“truly shocked and surprised and sincerely upset” about the impact of
their actions.
At press time, their punishment had not yet been announced.
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© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
