Dear Editor,

Racism has smacked us front and back in the face right here at NKU. You say free speech is protected on this campus, so for all those who get the opportunity to read this and agree, we are speaking for you too. Issue 8 of The Northerner has highly upset us and a majority of the people that represent this school as a whole.

First of all, why is there a big bold print, front page, bright picture of Michael Powell with “Student charged with rape” above it? Yes, all sex crimes and offenses must be reported, but why not in the police beat section of this paper – is that not what it’s there for?

Michael is, and still will be, a highly educated African-American male student at this institution who keeps to himself and worked extremely hard to maintain good standing at NKU, but now his professors are trying to take education and a better future from him by not wanting him to be in class. Which in an essence is telling him and other African-American students at NKU that they do not want us to succeed. No matter the background or character of any student here or worldwide, the professor’s job is to educate, not pass biased judgments.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

I once took pride in NKU for being diverse and accepting students for who they are and what their individuality brings to this campus. I have even been quoted for why “I LUV NKU” for this same issue, but if this is what Northern Kentucky University is truly about and the true colors have been shown, then I demand that what I previously stated be removed immediately and replaced with a poem from Tupac Amar Shakur:

“The Rose That Grew From Concrete” Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete Proving natures laws wrong it learned to walk with out having feet Funny it seems but by keeping it’s dreams it learned to breathe fresh air Love live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared

Ashley Achoe, Ramaia Coleman, Whitney Abell