Representatives from the Michigan Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media denounced the use of and semi-return of Eastern Michigan University’s old Huron logo at the Board of Regents meeting on Tuesday.
Marsha Traxler Reeves, one of four Native Americans to speak at the board meeting, said it was “something to be embarrassed about.”
“EMU fixed this issue once, and now for whatever reason, EMU has brought it back,” Reeves said.
EMU’s old Huron logo, which was retired in 1991 over concerns it was racially insensitive, was placed on the inner flap of the marching band’s uniforms last year along with EMU’s original Normalites logo. EMU President Susan Martin said it was a way to “nod to and celebrate its past.”
Twelve people requested to speak to EMU’s Board of Regents at Tuesday’s meeting. The board allots only 30 minutes per meeting for the public to speak, and as a result, each speaker was permitted two-and-a-half minutes.
Three of the four Native Americans addressing the board were told they had reached their allotted time before they had finished. A visibly angry Zhaawanong Nimkii Kuew, one of the representatives from MCARSM, commented on the time limit at the end of her allotted time.
“I would think with issues as important as this you would rethink
your two-minute limit,” Kuew said.
Howard Bunsis, the spokesman for EMU’s branch of the American Association of University Professors, also gave his opinion on the matter during his own address to the board.
“Switching back to the Huron logo is a bad decision,” Bunsis said. “Let’s put this away and deal with education.”
Bunsis spent most of his two-and-a-half minutes addressing what he called poor communication between the board and the faculty, and a lack of transparency regarding the board’s decisions concerning the faculty’s budget and benefits and the problems caused by those issues.
“Tuition is higher than it should be and classes are bigger than they should be,” Bunsis said. “Students are paying more for less.”
Other issues brought to the board’s attention included concerns about restroom accessibility on campus and the current state of EMU’s Rec/IM facility.
Benjamin Elmgren, director of communications for EMU Student Government, spoke to the board about standards for restrooms regarding gender neutrality, family friendliness and handicap access.
“Only three restrooms meet all three levels, and all of them are in the Student Center,” Elmgren said.
On April 10, Elmgren delivered more than 500 copies of an open letter to The Eastern Echo office. The letters bore original, unique EMU faculty, staff and student signatures, and called for the addition of universal access restrooms to every building on campus.
Elmgren is part of an organization called Free2Pee, which is advocating for universal access restrooms on campus to meet the needs of the EMU community who are physically disabled, need access to a changing table, identify as transgendered and those with
religious restrictions.
Elmgren said EMU is consistently ranked as one of the top 25 LGBT-friendly institutions of higher education in the country, and receives a 4.5 out of 5 score by the Campus Climate Index and Campus Pride (LGBT organizations).
“The one thing every year that holds our score back from being higher, and probably entering into the top five institutions, is the fact that we do not have enough universally accessible restrooms. On the part of students, especially trans students, it’s the one thing that they complain about the most about EMU,” Elmgren said in an interview.
While EMU student Thomas Cotta requested renovations be made to the Rec/IM.
“The equipment is old and dangerous,” Cotta said.
He said several pieces of equipment had fallen apart when he had attempted to use them on his last visit to the building.
The Rec/IM was constructed in 1982, and according to the university’s website has not received any major renovations since 1991.
The Board of Regents will hold a special session to address Martin’s position at EMU and extending her contract on May 10. The board was supposed to discuss the topic at its Tuesday meeting, but chose to delay it due to scheduling problems.
“I want to reiterate that President Martin continues to have our
full support,” said Board of Regents chairwoman Francine Parker.
