Burnt Orange Report

October 13, 2004

The MIC is at it again...

By Zach Neumann

I recently signed on as a BOR contributor to write about International issues, but it seems my first post is going to be a bit closer to home. This morning, The Daily Texan reported that the Longhorn Hellraisers were in hot water with the Multicultural Information Center for a “Cowboys and Indians” party they threw over the weekend. Nolene Clark writes that:

“According to Nathan Heinsohn, co-director of the MIC agency Longhorn American Indian Council, the MIC plans to file a formal complaint with the Office of the Dean of Students, who would then handle any investigation in accordance with the University's nondiscrimination policy.

"If they're sanctioned, we want there to be an educational part to this," Heinsohn said. "Of course, the organization should be reprimanded for their actions, but they could be told they were wrong without understanding it. We would like them to go through some sort of training."

The MIC did not, however, inform the Hellraisers of their intentions to file a complaint.

"If they want us to take a class or undergo training about diversity, we'll go," Deitering said. "We want to show that we had no intentions of being derogatory towards Native Americans. All these people needed to do was to come and talk to us, and we could have avoided all this."

Deitering said his group has made an active effort to become diverse through the recruitment and respect of underrepresented groups. For the Hellraisers "to be sanctioned because one person was offended is ridiculous," he said.

But Heinsohn said this is exactly what the MIC is supposed to do.

"The whole point of this center is for everyone to feel that their voice is equal, that they can say what they need to say and have it be taken seriously," Heinsohn said.

The Hellraisers believe this is one complaint that shouldn't be taken seriously.

"I don't see how every voice can be equal," Deitering said, "when all it takes is one voice to tarnish our reputation."

Though I am disappointed that the Hellraisers would be audacious enough to actually throw a “Cowboys and Indians” party, I am more troubled by the fact that the Multicultural Information Center is trying to have the Hellraisers censured by the Administration. It seems that the MIC fancies itself something of a racial thought police, attacking groups that behave in a manner inconsistent with its social and political sensibilities.

Unfortunately, it is very likely that the Office of the Dean of Students is going to back the MIC up on this one. A recent (and little known) addition to the speech policy here on campus forbids organizations that are registered with the Office of Campus and Community Involvement from engaging in expression that offends various ethnic and gender groups. If the Hellraisers are going to go down because they offended the Native American population with an ill conceived party, I can’t help but wonder how free we really are to express ourselves here on the 40 acres.

[Update: Byron, here. I just put the link and blockquotes into the post. The content has not been changed.]

Posted by Zach Neumann at October 13, 2004 12:06 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Welcome to the team here Zach, I hope you will have the time to stick around beyond one post (sorry Andrea!). I also hope that I don't end up becoming the most liberal voice on here! And I'm curious to see what new niche you take amongst the Burnt Orange Reporters (though that is a post for a slow news day) (and yes, I said Burnt Orange, not Crimson and Creamers because that's just, well, odd).

The link to the article in reference for all you curious folk is here.

I think this is the most rambling comment I've ever posted.

Posted by: Karl-T at October 13, 2004 12:54 PM

I think that there's degrees of offensiveness, and that it's important to liberals to pick their fights. Liberals often get a reputation as whiny and insecure whenever we scream discrimination, etc. Sometimes screaming BIAS, RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA, etc. is justified, and it needs to be done. Other times, its just not worth it, as the action to resolve the conflict manages to piss off more people that the conflict did itself. I'm not sure if that's the case, here. The Hellraisers used poor judgement, and I think the best course of action would be some sort of warning or reprimand with an understanding that they'll be monitored in a way, and that action such as this in the future would be grouds for some type of disciplinary action.

Posted by: Byron L at October 13, 2004 03:12 PM

Wow. The Burnt Orange Report just keeps on getting more and more ridiculous every day. I'm surprised you guys still support democrats - I haven't read anything progressive (besides gay rights advocacy!) on this blog in weeks.

Give me a break - I can't think of a more immature response to this issue than to side with the "Dude! We're just trying to have a good time!" crowd. The purpose of the MIC is to make the campus a welcoming environment to people of color. Speaking out against a party that - perhaps unintentionally - offends American Indian students is totally within their mission, not whiney far-left activism. I would hope that you guys can stop worry about inconveniencing some frat boys and thinking about how to ensure that the university has an environment where diversity can prosper.

In case you guys haven't noticed, there's a presidential election going on and plenty of REAL issues to discuss...

Posted by: yawn at October 13, 2004 03:34 PM

And if you haven't noticed, yawn,

1. There are a lot of media sources reporting on the presidential race, check those out.

2. There aren't a lot covering Texas specific and UT specific issues and as a result, we fill into that void.

3. We are totally progressive on a lot of issues. I'm more conservative than most of the other bloggers, I assume, but I'm solidly "liberal" on social issues and I want to have a more activist government role in health care, education, environmental protection and I want to protect the interests of working families. On one of those online tests I'd probably end up somewhere on the "liberal" end of the scale, Zach slightly to the left of me, Byron well to the left of both of us, Jim probably near Byron and Karl-T. a little to the left of them. So get off our case.

But on a positive note, what would you like us to report about? We'd love to put something out there.

Posted by: Andrew D at October 13, 2004 04:51 PM

To clarify: Do I think that the Hellraiser party was sophmoric and insensitive? Absolutley. Do I believe that Native Americans have a right to be offended by the Hellraisers? Without a doubt. Would I have attended this party: no way. However, do I believe that the Hellraisers (stupid though they may be) should be officially sanctioned by UT? Absolutley not. I believe that punishing the Hellraisers is a violation of their constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression. If universities are to be the marketplace for ideas, then punishing people for offensive expression seems foolish to me. By the way, who are you yawn... you sound like an old friend of mine...

Posted by: Zach N at October 13, 2004 06:04 PM

Thanks for taking a stand, guys! What's wrong with having a little fun mocking some drunk injuns? Just 'cause we slaughtered 'em, now we gotta be polite? The MIC can whine all they want, but I bet they can't find any real Geronimos that were offended. I think this is a good precedent to set and a great starting point for that lefty radical Zach.

Now, I don't want to hear any whining from you guys when I throw my Dykes and Faggots party!

Posted by: Fratty McFratboy at October 13, 2004 06:07 PM

News, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas

October 13, 2004

The MIC is at it again...

By Zach Neumann