By Myrle Cooper
Guest Commentator
St. Cloud State University (SCSU) recently hired Earthbound Media Group (EMG) for a panic-driven brand rescue effort to redefine its image. “The goal is to close the gap between perception and reality that many outside the area have about St. Cloud State,” said SCSU President Earl Potter. (“Spreading the word: St. Cloud State embarks on a new branding push;” St. Cloud Times, 9/22/2011)
St. Cloud’s national reputation for hate crimes, homophobia, record-setting rapes and xenophobia forced City Hall and SCSU to frantically seek public relations help. For SCSU, EMG creates diversionary propaganda to mislead trusting high school counselors, parents and students of color about St. Cloud’s racial hostility. If not bovine excrement, call it “last place aversion.” (“Last Place Aversion,” Ilyana Kuziemko, Princeton University, 10/19/2010)
Evidence of St. Cloud’s well-documented history of pride-filled racism (including local KKK and neo-nazi groups) is easily verified by a cursory Internet search using key words, “St. Cloud racism.” You’ll suffer eye strain if not revulsion. Or, ask Associated Press, Council on American Islamic Relations, Council on Black Minnesotans, FBI, Minnesota Public Radio, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Twin Cities Daily Planet, U.S. Departments of Education and Justice and/or read findings from 21 investigative studies since 1985.
To read three damning study conclusions heroically allowed or encouraged by SCSU’s previous president, access SCSU’s home page/website, click on “Faculty & Staff,” “Administrative Services,” “Administrative Documents,” and “Diversity Documents,” then read “EEOC Report,” “Jewish Community Relations Council Report,” and Edwin Nichols’ Cultural Audit. Since 2007, previously addressed conditions have worsened. No State of the City address ever mentioned racism.
Authors of a recent history book described community racial conditions prompting letters to Minnesota high school counselors and parent-teacher groups by two Black whistle blowers. (St. Cloud: The Triplet City, An Illustrated History, Dominik, J.J. & Massman, J.C., American Historical Press, 2002, pg. 137-139)
Additional investigative studies of St. Cloud racism include seven-to-one racial profiling by the University of Minnesota Law School and presented to the State Legislature. (Minnesota Statewide Racial Profiling Report: St. Cloud Police Department, 9/22/2003)
Later, the Aspen Institute’s Roundtable for Community Change cited St. Cloud as the Midwest’s most racially hostile community. (“Institute to study area’s race efforts,” St. Cloud Times, 5/30/2007)
The latest study of St. Cloud racism concluded politely: “We assessed opportunity for the St. Cloud region by reviewing data along general markers of community health, education, housing, and employment opportunity. This analysis showed that despite the many assets St. Cloud has to offer, the region is on a path to crisis…” (“Shining the Light: Revealing Choice in the St. Cloud Region,” Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University, 9/2010)
Despite all the racial incidents reported by local, regional and national news sources, St. Cloud defends its racist status quo. SCSU administrators avoid confronting city government on behalf of its students of color.
Evidently, EMG self-selects survey respondents to eliminate negative opinions. Previously, Stamats Higher Education Marketing surveys found 50 percent of minority students would never recommend SCSU or residency in St. Cloud. EMG is costing Minnesota taxpayers about $400,000 to “close the gap between perception and reality that many outside the area have about St. Cloud State.” Further, Potter said, “…Many positive things happen that don’t translate into positive perceptions outside the area.”
Fraudulently inflating data on SCSU’s Black graduates is one.
According to recent SCSU data, only eight percent of the 2005 minority freshmen class/cohort will graduate in four years. Retention dropped by 10 percent from 2009. Tentative data implies only 64 percent of the cohort starting SCSU in fall 2010 returned for fall 2011, meaning Black, Latino and Native American retention rates are considerably lower.
City Hall desperately wants fewer Blacks in St. Cloud. SCSU fears outside scrutiny. The Southern Poverty Law Center should be asked to investigate.
In response to the recent firing of SCSU’s boldly truthful and super-efficient enrollment manager, Dr. Mahmoud Saffari, many of SCSU’s faculty, staff and students of color timidly objected via Booker T. Washington accommodationism and/or adherence to fear-driven non-threatening pro forma protocol.
Childish choruses of “Hey hey, ho ho, racism’s got to go” merely convinced Potter that loyal house slaves would never actually punish SCSU in retaliation for Saffari’s firing.
SCSU needs a painful learning experience, not more predictable non-redemptive suffering. If those so frequently “buked ’n’ scorned” ever manage to overcome their Stockholm syndrome and convincingly punish St. Cloud and SCSU for racism, conditions will improve drastically.
Valuable information concerning St. Cloud/SCSU racial intransigence has come from an ex-City Council member, two SCSU President’s Council members, an ex-school board chairperson, two public defenders and one honest cop. Thank all of you very sincerely.
Myrle Cooper is retired from SCSU but continues to closely monitor racism and expose a community resisting change. He welcomes reader responses to kobenhavnk@yahoo.com.
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