Student activists demonstrate diversity on canvas, posters

The bulletin boards of libraries and various campus offices. The walls of the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery. The streets of downtown Bloomington. These are all highly visible areas in the community, and this summer they will all be lined with works of art and posters promoting diversity. The initiative is intended to target participants in an upcoming Boy Scouts of America conference.\nIn late July, the Order of the Arrow, a honor society within the Boy Scouts of America organization, will hold a conference on campus. The Boy Scouts of America made headlines when former assistant scoutmaster James Dale, who was fired after it was discovered that he is gay, tried to sue the organization. In 2000, however, the Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts’ decision to fire Dale based on his sexual orientation.\nWhen asked about the Boy Scout policies regarding diversity in the troops, Order of the Arrow national director Clyde Mayer said, “We don’t discriminate against individuals.” He would provide no further comment.\nSharlene Toney and the Committee for Multicultural Understanding have decided to take advantage of the audience of roughly 2,500 Boy Scouts that will be visiting IU this summer to tell them how they feel about the issue. They are providing canvases for any campus group or individual that wants to participate in an art installation that will go in the IMUG, titled “Honoring Diversity.” Toney, the staff co-convenor for the committee, said participants will receive 16 inch by 20 inch canvases to decorate in any way they want but must include the words of the theme. Twenty-four artists have already committed to designing a piece, and Toney hopes more will volunteer. She said the committee wanted to take some kind of action but wanted to keep it positive, so as not to make the boys feel bad about their organization.\nLa Casa Latino Cultural Center is one of the groups that has committed to creating a canvas. Director Lillian Casillas said she wanted the display to be educational and nonconfrontational. \n“It is a good way to show unity among different groups through a different way,” she said. “As part of the IU family, what I love is that we do value diversity.”\nThe Native American Graduate Student Association and the American Indian Association have also became involved with the project. \nRebecca Raill, co-chair of the Native American Graduate Student Association, said Boy Scout groups, including the Order of the Arrow, model themselves after American Indian tribes, though Indians have historically been more accepting of homosexuality among their ranks than the Boy Scouts. She said the model dances after their own ceremonial dances, but out of context. She said she considers them an inappropriate representation of her religion. \n“I wouldn’t hold a Catholic mass in my backyard for the fun of it,” she said.\nToney has coordinated a staff of students to create a poster campaign that will cover the campus during the summer. The committee hopes to not only start conversations about diversity among the Boy Scouts, but also to emphasize its importance to the incoming freshmen as they go through the orientation program. The committee usually takes on one large project each year. Last year, it paired with the Asian Cultural Center to regulate Facebook groups that perpetuated negative stereotypes of Asian students. It then hosted programs to discuss race and the power of language.\nThe committee’s current project differs from previous projects because, as Toney said, “We aren’t in a position to start a dialogue with (the Boy Scouts).”\nThe Order of the Arrow is renting the space from IU, so the aim of the participants is not to stage a protest, but to raise awareness among the boys. Mark Casey, the director of the IU Writer’s Group, another participant in the project said, “It’s not that we want to attack the Boy Scouts. We want to express our appreciation for diversity.”\nInterested individuals and groups can pick up a canvas from Toney’s office, Teter’s Academic Support Center, Room F255B, before April 6, but she requests that they e-mail her at smtoney@indiana.edu first. The deadline to return pieces is 5 p.m. on May 4. They will all be displayed for three weeks in the IMUG and returned to each artist or group in the fall.