We are appalled. The money we pay for student fees is being spent to bring a known racist, Louis Farrakhan, to campus. An exorbitant amount of money is being allotted to have him speak.

We have better use for $13,000 than spending the money on (any) one speaker. We could eliminate some of the debt of the Huskie Bus line, we could pay one-third of the salary to bring a new minority professor to campus, we could minimally fund a large number of campus student organizations, or we could help fund a good statue of Dr. Martin Luther King.

It is interesting to note that, for the past semester, almost every issue of The Northern Star has had at least one letter to the editor complaining about racism on this campus and at least one letter regarding the abhorent status of education funding in this state and nation.

Is this the way to make these improvements?—to spend $13,000 to bring a speaker to NIU who offends a specific religious group and many members of the NIU community? We realize that Farrakan might have words to say that are not racist, but perhaps there might be a better spokesperson for the Black Student Union to bring to this campus.

Do the BSU and the Student Association of 1989-1990 want to be remembered as the groups that brought a racist to campus?

Antoin Howard stated that Farrakhan “attacks righteoustly.” This phrase is simply a rationalization in support of his racist statements.

Furthermore, these words encourage racist actions. Let us look at our history: Adolph Hilter attacked “righteously” and, as a result, was directly responsible for the deaths of over 12 million people. The leaders of China claimed to “attack righteously” and used this as their defense for shooting students in Tiananmen square.

To address Admasu Zike, BSU Faculty advisor, we do not need to “give him a chance.” We can go to the library and learn what Farrakhan has said in the past and realize we do not want to hear him speak, nor do we want to support Farrakhan’s presence on this campus, nor do we care to have a portion of our student fees spent on something so ludicrous at a time when the prioritization of spending on campus is urgently needed!

Elaine Schwartz

Erik Spande

Paul K. Doss

Graduate Students

Department of Geology