“Honestly, I still don’t know what the intention of the skit was,” he said. “It was very silent, and there were some boos. People were looking at each other, not knowing how to act.”
Messages left by the AP for Russell Danielson, adviser of the Saddle and Sirloin Club, and Malika Carter, an NDSU assistant director of multicultural student services, were not immediately returned.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re rural. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Fargo or Beulah, N.D.,” said Joy Rice, a Black Fargo resident and a member of the city's human relations commission. “You still need to respect people of color, in all aspects of life. This is a form of racism, and it's really taking a step back.”
The skit follows a complaint filed against a sorority at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where guests wore Indian costumes and red paint on their faces and bodies.
“This falls into the same category,” Rice said of the NDSU skit. “It's just as bad.”
Stoskopf said she expected the investigation could take until May 9, the end of the school year.
“One of the issues here is how do we balance what our policies and expectations about behavior are with the issue of freedom of speech,” Stoskopf said. “Where does all of that get us?”
NDSU has 10,403 undergraduates. The student body is 92 percent White, while 1.5 percent identify themselves as Black or African-American.
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