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Institute for Ethnic Studies Statement on White Supremacy on Campus

Recently, controversy has grown on our campus over the presence of a student who is an active, avowed white supremacist.  This student maintains an active presence in a variety of online white supremacist networks and was photographed as a participant in the recent Charlottesville, Virginia, neo-Nazi rally that resulted in the killing of one anti-racist counter-demonstrator and the beatings of several others.      

In the context of this campus controversy, the faculty of the Institute for Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln affirms its historic and on-going commitment to academic freedom, diversity and social justice, as well as its staunch opposition to ideologies of ignorance, discrimination and hate, particularly as those ideologies manifest in a culture of fear and intimidation on our campus and in the broader community, or encourage, threaten or elicit violent behavior. 

Our scholarly work uniquely situates us to understand and mark the dynamic tensions between first amendment rights, disparate power and the real, historic and on-going threat posed by white nationalism and white supremacy on our campus, in our state, across the country and globally.  The historical well of white supremacy in the United States is deep, as is the intimate connection between hateful ideas and tragic outbursts of racist violence.  Faculty research in each of our sub-programs - the African and African American Studies Program, the Native American Studies Program and the Latino and Latin American Studies Program – testifies to the particular ways white supremacy has played out against African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and other people of color throughout U.S. history.  Our current predicament is not in isolation from this much longer, tragic story of the American experience.     

We also know that many students, particularly students of color, feel frustrated, angry and scared as a result of threatening rhetoric deployed by this student in a recent video.  These are all understandable and legitimate responses to the presence of white supremacy in our academic community and society-at-large.  The faculty at the Institute for Ethnic Studies remains committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for our students and stands in solidarity with those feeling vulnerable as a result of the current racial climate on our campus.  

We will continue to work with the university administration, students and community members to create an academic community that not only fosters the free flow of competing ideas, but also a community that protects the well-being and safety of all of its members, particularly students of color and those from other historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.  We stand with them against the tangible, imminent consequences resulting from white supremacy and white nationalism.   

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The Institute for Ethnic Studies is proud to stand with DACA students at this university and everywhere they may be.
We support their dreams and affirm their beliefs and aspirations for a better life.   

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Two Ethnic Studies Professors Win Fulbright Awards

Congratulations to our faculty members Dr. Dawne Y. Curry in African Studies and Dr. Amelia M.L. Montes in U.S. Latina/o Studies, who have both been selected for 2017-18 Fulbright U.S. Scholar grants. 

Dr. Montes, Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies, will travel to Serbia to write, teach a  class—Chicana and Chicano Literature and Theory—at The University of Novi Sad, and work with Professor Aleksandra Izgarjan, whose expertise is in gender studies and transnational literatures.  Professor Montes is finishing her creative nonfiction book, Nothing Sweet About Me, preparing it for publication, and, while in Serbia, will be writing a book of essays, La Llorona on the Danube: A Chicana in Serbia. 

Dr. Curry, Associate Professor of History and Ethnic Studies, will travel to South Africa to conduct    research, write, and bridge scholarly relations between South Africa and the United States.  Her project is titled, “African Women Intellectuals in South Africa’s Political Landscape.”

 Both Dr. Curry and Dr. Montes participated last fall in the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity’s Faculty Success Program, also known as “academic bootcamp,” a twelve-week program designed to facilitate faculty members’ success in research, develop their organizational skills, and support a rich work-life balance. 

 The Institute for Ethnic Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences are proud to have invested in this valuable program to help our faculty members flourish.  Dr. Curry’s and Dr. Montes’s selections as Fulbright Scholars are a first indication of what we hope will be great and continued success.