On Nov. 11, 2005, the director of the Multicultural Center and dean of the Division of Student Affairs commented on the campus racial conflicts that had just happened.
At the time, five incidents of racist comments being yelled at students had been reported.
"We want the community to understand the university deplores this type of behavior and will not tolerate it," the administrators wrote, while promising to put initiatives in place for solving the problem.
Since then, racism has been witnessed in The Nest, and a lawsuit against the university was filed for verbal and physical discrimination of an employee.
It's been more than four months since the instigating events, and little noticeable action has been taken.
One promise made by administrators was that the increased police presence would help catch the November offenders, but to date no one has been convicted.
A task force was formed, but few - if any - results have come from that meeting.
The promises and proposals made by administrators were simply not able to incite actual change on campus because ending racism is going to take mutual effort. While administrative and public safety initiatives are integral to the process of eliminating racism, everyone on campus must have a hand in solving this problem.
So far, the biggest effort has been made by the nine graduate students who organized the "Stop Hate" campaign. They created a banner that currently bears about 700 signatures, and one student walked around campus Monday in a chicken costume to show how people who contribute to racism are being "chickens."
But a chicken suit and some signatures won't end racism on this campus.
Most people who saw the chicken probably weren't aware of his reason for dressing up, and anyone can sign a banner - it's not tough to find students who are opposed to hate.
Still, it's great to see a group of students mobilize for a cause they care about, and it's nice they received the support they have from students. Their efforts are commendable, even if their actions were not especially clear.
Ball State community members can agree that racism is a problem on campus, and nobody wants this kind of prejudice to continue.
Students, faculty and staff must speak up when they see racism happening and speak out when they have the chance to fix it.
Until the dedication shown by the graduate students Monday spreads throughout every office, organization and classroom of this university - until everyone supports these efforts - Ball State will not be able to "Stop hate."
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