Closed
After a period of 90 days with no new information, cases are considered closed. However, if new information becomes available or there are other updates those will be posted here. Individuals 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 Thursday, September 2, 2021, an individual reported that one of the posters related to the Ute Proud campaign had been vandalized. Someone had written the words “Your not White Black Chicano” on the poster with a black marker. It is unknown how long the vandalism had been on the poster prior to being reported.
What is being done
The incident was reported to the Racist and Bias Incident Response Team, which coordinated with University of Utah Facilities Management to remove the vandalism and inspect the area for other graffiti, and none was found.
What to do
Be vigilant and speak up. If you observe similar vandalism or 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 it 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 this action and the message. The University of Utah continues to condemn bias, discrimination, racism, bigotry and hate in the strongest possible terms. 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 the indigenous members of our community, and our Ute Tribe members specifically, and believes the community is strengthened by their contributions. The University has also entered into agreements with the Ute Tribe to help educate our campus community and strengthen the ties between the University of Utah and the Ute Tribe. 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.