Apparently Indigenous People’s Day got a tad bit too indigenous over at Dartmouth this year. The New Hampshire-based University is now on the warpath (I’m here all week) over flyers that were distributed promoting Indian-themed clothing.
Dartmouth has a complicated history with Native Americans. The Dartmouth Indians used to be the nickname of all Dartmouth sports clubs. That is, until 1974 when the university decided the nickname was offensive. Yet, despite their clown show of an administration, many Dartmouth students and organizations still have a liking for the nickname.
The most recent evidence of this comes in the form this flyer that made the rounds on campus Monday night
On Monday night, flyers appeared across campus encouraging students to “Celebrate
Columbus DayIndigenous People’s Day ALL YEAR ROUND with Vintage Dartmouth Indian gear!”
Native American groups, and media, have been less thrilled about the Dartmouth Indian, saying that those who created the flyer were “playing dirty,” and “mocking Indigenous Day.” No one has taken credit for the flyer. But, if you’re eyeing that snazzy dog sweater for your pooch, you needn’t bother. The online store the flyer tells people to go to was shut down after the backlash against the flyer started rolling in.
Native Americans at Dartmouth (NAD) historian and student, Bridget-Kate Sixkiller McNulty called the incident “horrifying,” and told of how the flyers had made students “not feel safe on this campus.” You know, because the threat of being attacked by an assault I-phone cover is real.
Dartmouth Dean Rebecca Biron and Provost Carolyn Dever sent emails declaring that the flyer was “cowardly and disrespectful.” Not to be out hissy-fitted by their hissy-fitting administrators, the school’s Student Assembly called the flyers a “premeditated act of racism,” and stated that the Dartmouth community “cannot tolerate such deliberate acts of hate speech perpetrated by those who wish to intimidate or harm other students.”
Pursuant to the supposed “harm” that the particularly menacing laptop cover represented to Native Americans on campus, this assemblage of schoolhouse insanity also announced that:
“…in response to the incident, Safety and Security officers will be conducting additional rounds and walk-throughs at the Native American House and that Native students who feel unsafe can contact Safety and Security for temporary housing reassignments.”
In a totally related and completely horrifying development, we must also report that there will be no safe place to run or hide when this flock of collegiate neuterati completes their planned migration into the various seats of power in our federal government.
Plan accordingly.
