Human rights groups denounce attacks toward students

COEUR d’ALENE — Regional human rights groups sent a joint letter this week to North Idaho College trustees and Interim President Greg South condemning harassment of college students at recent public meetings.

The letter was signed by leaders of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, as well as the human rights task forces of Bonner, Boundary and Spokane counties.

“We are deeply troubled by the unruly and uncivilized attacks on the students using profanities to degrade, harass and intimidate,” the groups said.

College officials indicated Friday that the administration is taking steps to ensure the safety of those who attend board meetings.

“Prior to each recent board meeting, college leadership has met with safety officers and our school resource officer who is our liaison to the Coeur d’Alene Police Department to develop and walk through a specific security plan for each board meeting,” said Laura Rumpler, NIC’s chief communications officer. “We’ve refined our processes to work to better prevent and expedite a response to any physical and verbal outbursts.”

The board has not yet addressed harassment of students, though Rumpler said South intends to work with trustees to determine a course of action.

Last week, the NIC Diversity Council called on South and the trustees to publicly condemn the heckling and slurs some community members have directed toward students at board meetings.

Local human rights groups did the same.

“The silence of those most responsible for guaranteeing a campus environment that involves respect, inclusion, dignity and fairness for all students and employees is deeply troubling,” the recent letter said.

Rumpler said that while she cannot speak for the board, she anticipates the trustees will address these “serious issues” at the next meeting.

In the meantime, ASNIC President Damian Maxwell said many students are disheartened that the matter needs to be addressed in the first place.

“It’s disappointing to see that from the community,” he said.

He noted that the February meeting ran more smoothly than previous ones, though some students reported problems in the overflow rooms.

South recently met with student leaders, including Maxwell, to discuss protecting students and others who attend public meetings. Maxwell said South advised him to notify administrators or security if problems arise during future meetings.

Above all, Maxwell said he wants the board and interim president to set the standard for behavior.

“I would like the board to acknowledge this issue and say that none of this is tolerated,” he said.

Maxwell referred back to a statement from ASNIC he shared with the board during the February meeting, which indicated that silence from trustees would be taken as “open endorsement of these inappropriate and discriminatory behaviors.”

Neither South nor the board responded.

“We got silence,” Maxwell said.

Read the full letter from regional human rights groups at bonnercountydailybee.com.