Resolved
Although we believe this situation has been addressed in a way that should prevent future reoccurrence, those who believe they have been the target of bias, intolerance or discrimination may report an incident to the public incident report form (bias and intolerance) or the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (sexual misconduct and discrimination).
Please direct any questions or concerns in regard to this bias incident to the RBIRT Manager at RBIresponse@utah.edu.
What happened
On Friday, January 29, 2021, a contractor working on a University of Utah construction site, noticed a decal for the “Three Percenters” on the company vehicle of a subcontractor. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the “Three Percenters” are a far-right, anti-government militia group with strong anti-immigrant/Muslim ideologies.
What is being done
The primary contractor quickly reached out to the subcontractor, and informed them of the inappropriate nature of the decal on the vehicle at the worksite, as the contract between the contractor and subcontractor prohibited displays of political messages on the worksite. The primary contractor contacted the subcontractor’s president, who responded that they had taken action to remove the decal from the specific vehicle, inspected other company vehicles to make sure there were no other decals, and to ensure similar actions did not happen again.
The incident was reported to the Racist and Bias Incident Response Team, ADL, as well as to University Police. University Police contacted the Statewide Information & Analysis Center to obtain any information about this group and their activity in the SLC area and learned that the group is fairly active in Utah, but it is not confirmed that they participate in unlawful extremist militia activities.
What to do
Be vigilant and speak up. If you experience a racist or bias incident, make a report to the Racist and Bias Incident Response Team, or if you experience discrimination you can report to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.
If you are interested in learning more about the variety of resources the U offers to support diversity and inclusion, please visit the Office of the Dean of Students in the Union Building, Room 270, deanofstudents@utah.edu, 801-581-7066, or Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Park Building, Room 208, or https://diversity.utah.edu/our-team/.
The U is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion
The University of Utah strongly condemns the messages spread by these extremist militia groups. In light of the events of January 6, it is important to call out their unlawful involvement in attempts to disrupt our democracy. The University of Utah continues to condemn bias, discrimination, racism, bigotry and hate in the strongest possible terms and is no place for violence. We support fostering an inclusive campus and are committed to diversity. U administrators want to assure students, faculty and staff that they are dedicated to creating a safe, welcoming and equitable campus where we work together to engage, support and advance a living, learning and working environment that fosters values of respect, diversity, inclusivity and academic excellence.
The University of Utah also welcomes and values its international student community, and believes the community as a whole is strengthened by their contributions. President Ruth V. Watkins and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Dan Reed addressed this in a previous statement. Additional information about other types of critical conversations, including a discussion about intent vs. impact, surviving and thriving, claiming space and more, is available online.