Emails show Mason's response to statue riled many

When trying to strike a balance between student safety and academic freedom, University of Iowa President Sally Mason missed the mark in her initial response to the unauthorized installation of a controversial sculpture on the UI Pentacrest.

That's the consensus of the nearly 60 emails Mason received in the days following her Dec. 7 letter to the UI community. In that letter, the UI president stated the university had "failed" in its goal "of providing a respectful, all-inclusive, educational environment" by not taking steps more quickly to remove a 7-foot Ku Klux Klan effigy from the university's most recognizable public space.

UI officials released the emails to Mason on Wednesday, along with other correspondence concerning the Dec. 5 display of the sculpture, in response to a public records request filed Dec. 10.

The majority of respondents criticized Mason's message either for not sufficiently defending UI's commitment to free speech or for saying nothing about how the artist, visiting UI art professor Serhat Tanyolacar, had intended the sculpture to be a critique of ongoing racial violence in the U.S.

Several of the students, whose names were all redacted by UI officials before releasing the emails, conveyed sentiments along the lines of:

* "I am left to question how I can continue devoting my time and energy to obtaining a degree from such an institution. How can Iowa claim to foster the arts, yet show such a fundamental ignorance of them?"

* "It is very irresponsible to send out an email of the type without context of the (artist's) actual intent and purpose ... "

* "Basically your email reads, 'We had someone put an intentionally racist KKK piece up meant to offend people.' "

Some faculty members echoed those concerns.

"If some attribute to an artwork a hostile message it is the task of public discourse to sort that matter out," wrote Alexander Somek, UI professor of law. "It is one of the hallmarks of a free society that aesthetic experience is communicated freely. This freedom suffers when those wielding power publicly (and falsely!) condemn a work of art."

Other respondents agreed with Mason that UI administrators had not reacted quickly enough to remove such a disturbing image from the UI campus. Several said they have come to expect such negligence at UI when it comes to addressing matters of racial equity.

One student wrote that students of color routinely "endure unruly and barbaric behavior from our peers and instructors at the University of Iowa that constantly go unnoticed. Students do not report these incidents because we do not believe our voice matters on this campus."

Another student, identified as being "not Black," complained that Mason's message "targeted the upset students as being Black. Any person with a moral compass immediately felt emotionally threatened."

Other respondents expanded on Mason's theme of "strengthening culture competency training and reviewing our implicit bias training."

"Our program also has nothing in place to make this a priority," one student wrote. "(In) fact when issues of diversity competency are brought up, whether it be toward racial minorities, or individuals of different sexual preferences, we have been told 'they're aren't enough of us to matter' from both staff and other students. ... This sentiment is pervasive, and to be honest, the reason why students from underrepresented backgrounds avoid Iowa."

Several respondents offered to serve on the "committee of students and community members" that Mason was forming to advise her.

A small number of respondents praised Mason for managing to find her intended balance between freedom and safety.

"Terrific email … thank you!" wrote one student.

"It's difficult to believe a fellow faculty member could be so insensitive or naïve to think his instillation was helpful in any way to our present or past racial problems," wrote William LaRue Jones, director of orchestral studies at UI. "Those of us who are old enough to have lived through civil rights struggles of the 60's and know the history of hatred and discrimination are saddened by his display."

Mason's apology

On Dec. 7, 2014 — two days after a visiting UI art professor had placed an unauthorized sculpture on the Pentacrest — University of Iowa President Sally Mason sent the following email to the UI community.

Dear Members of the University Community:

The goal of the University of Iowa, as a higher-education institution, has always been to provide an environment where all members of our campus community feel safe and Friday, we failed. On the morning of December 5, 2014, a 7-foot tall Ku Klux Klan effigy with a camera affixed to the display was installed without permission on our campus. The effects of the display were felt throughout the Iowa City community. That display immediately caused Black students and community members to feel terrorized and to fear for their safety.

The university's response was not adequate, nor did that response occur soon enough. Our students tell us that this portrayal made them feel unwelcomed and that they lost trust in the University of Iowa. For failing to meet our goal of providing a respectful, all-inclusive, educational environment, the university apologizes. All of us need to work together to take preventive action and do everything we can to be sure that everyone feels welcome, respected, and protected on our campus and in our community.

I urge any student who was negatively affected by this incident who feels a need for support to consider contacting the University Counseling Service at 335-7294.

I will meet with students and others when I return this Wednesday to prepare a detailed plan of action that will include input from people who were impacted by Friday's incident about how the UI can better meet its responsibility to ensure that all students, faculty, staff, and visitors are respected and safe. I intend to move quickly to form a committee of students and community members to advise me on options including strengthening cultural competency training and reviewing our implicit bias training, as we move forward.

Please join me in the important work ahead.

Sally Mason

President

University of Iowa

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen. Follow him on Twitter at @jeffcharis.