Frustration over KKK statue: UI students share concerns at public forums

IOWA CITY - In the days and weeks before a Ku Klux Klan effigy was installed on the University of Iowa campus, African American students had planned meetings, rallies, and protests to shine a light on racial tensions facing the nation.

So from the perspective of at least some UI students, the 7-foot-tall Klan-robed statue that sat on the Pentacrest for hours Friday is not what prompted so much discussion of racism and diversity in the community.

'All off this was planned beforehand,” said Kayla Wheeler, a third year doctoral student in the UI Department of Religious Studies. 'I don't know what he sparked. I'm not giving him credit for anything.”

What the statue did produce, Wheeler said, was terror among many on campus, herself included.

Wheeler said she had organized a solidarity protest on the Pentacrest just 12 hours before the statue was installed in the exact same spot. When she learned of its placement Friday, Wheeler took it very personally.

'It was a terrorist attack,” she said. 'And I haven't actually slept.”

But while many of the meetings and events on campus this week had been scheduled before Friday's incident, the statue's effects and the issue of public art have become central to those discussions.

During a forum Monday night, for example, the role and impact of public art took center stage. That statue's artist, Serhat Tanyolacar, 38, is a UI faculty member and Grant Wood Art Colony Printmaking Fellow. He said he wanted the piece to raise awareness about racism and spark dialogue.

But many black students at Monday's forum said the statue was placed without signage or explanation, and they thought the effigy was meant as a warning.

'I had a sister tell me on Friday she was afraid she was going to be hung from a Pentacrest tree,” Wheeler said.

About 150 students, faculty and community members attended Monday's forum, including members of a group calling themselves 'Black Hawkeyes.”

'I'm here to support my group and voice my opinion about what happened,” said UI freshman Fatima Fadel. 'We want to stop something like this from happening again, and for people to understand it's not right.”

Students on Monday encouraged artists like Tanyolacar to consider not just the intent of their work, but the impact of how and where they present it. Many said Friday's effigy, depicting a symbol associated with decades of violence against blacks, appeared as hate speech when presented out of the context of an art show or gallery.

'Where do we draw the line between art as a sociopolitical statement and triggering material for shock value?” asked junior Nailah Roberts. 'If you present triggering material without context, it is hurtful to the people you say you're trying to help.”

In a statement over the weekend, Mason apologized for the university's inadequate response and said she's planning to meet with students Wednesday.

UI associate athletics director Fred Mims said this campuswide attention can be a catalyst for change.

'Don't lose it,” he said Tuesday during a discussion organized by the UI chapter of the NAACP. 'You only get so many windows of opportunity. So let's do it in a calm way that's going to get results.”

Michael Hill, an associate professor in the English department, said he agrees that now is the time to push for real progress. He highlighted Mason's statement, as well as her vow to develop a plan of action and form an advisory committee of students and community members.

'That unequivocally is a statement of dissatisfaction, and that's an opportunity,” he said.