On April 4, a group from St. Paul Catholic Center decided to go to Red Mango for frozen yogurt after their Bible study session. As they sat down to eat, a girl approached Father Jude McPeak and asked, “Hey, are you in the Klan?”
As Father Jude tried to clarify that he was a Dominican friar, more questions started coming from other people in the room.
“I thought monks wore black.”
“I’ve never seen a priest dressed like that before.”
“So you don’t hate black people?”
A picture of Fr. Jude spread on social media warning students of a member of the Ku Klux Klan was on campus with a weapon.
The picture attracted so much attention, Fr. Jude and two other Dominican friars organized a talk in Eigenmann Hall Wednesday night to discuss who the Dominicans are.
“When I saw Dominicans for the first time in college, I said to my girlfriend at the time, ‘Hey, the Klan’s here,’” Fr. Jude said. “So I can’t really begrudge anybody who makes that mistake.”
The Dominicans are an order of friars established by St. Dominic. Their charism, or mission, is to live simply and preach the Gospel. They take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Their habit, the white tunic and hood with the rosary on the left side of their belt, is meant to reflect that mission and remind the friars to remain prayerful, Fr. Jude said.
“The Dominicans were historically all about preaching the Gospel in a way that would resonate with the lifestyles of the people they met,” Fr. Jude said. “And still in 2016, people need to hear the Good News in a way they can understand and that will coincide with their reality.”
Wearing the habit can be humbling, Fr. Jude said. It is never warm enough in winter and often too warm in summer. It often makes the friars stand out in public places and people will stare.
He said it is ironic the Dominicans were mistaken for Klansmen.
“The Klan actually stole the hood from Catholics in Spain,” Fr. Jude said. “It is a symbol of peace and simplicity that was hijacked by a hateful group that actually often killed Catholics in the South for supporting civil rights.”
Eigenmann Resident Advisor Ethan Gill was one of the people who heard about the “Klansman” sighting on social media. He was worried because of the reports of a weapon. He decided to tell his residents to be careful in case the reports were true.
But he said as soon as he saw the picture, he knew it was a priest.
“Some of that fear is understood, and it came out of honest ignorance,” Gill said. “A lot of people just didn’t know any better.”
But Gill said he decided to take the negativity and confusion and try to turn it into something positive and educational for students. He called Fr. Jude to set up the talk.
“It was a relief to find out there wasn’t really a threat, but the whole thing must have been kind of rough for Fr. Jude,” Gill said. “It’s severely ironic how people took something that should be an image of peace and associated it with a hate group. Hopefully it’s a mistake that won’t be made in the future.”
The friars brought cookies and sandwiches to the talk and took questions from the students who came. At the end, Fr. Jude looked at everyone and asked, “So does anybody want to go to Red Mango?”
