Interview with Armani Burton and Lilly Peter about the lasting impacts of bulletin board defacement.
Early last week, Otterbein police were called to the Arts and Communications building by WOBN staff, after they found the bulletin board outside of the WOBN office defaced. On Wednesday staff members found the photos of four members of the JAMC 1401 class, with scratches on the faces of their photos. All four of these students are students of color.
Dr. Eric Jones, advisor to the WOBN radio station, had received a text message early on Wednesday morning from a staff member about the situation.
“As soon as I saw what happened I saw all the students, the names were blocked out, so we took down the part of the bulletin board that had the students and the names blocked out,” says Dr. Jones. “What was clear was that all of the students were students of color.”
Sophia Imundo, station manager of WOBN 97.5 says this incident is not what WOBN stands for.
“We’re really really disappointed and disturbed with what happened because WOBN has, like, always been a place for a lot of, like, different kinds of people,” says Imundo.
Imundo says WOBN has been in contact with the students who were affected and with Dr. Frank Dobson from the Office of Social Justice & Activism for advice on how to move forward. WOBN ultimately wants to fix the board back to how it was before the defacement.
“We want to, like respect whatever the students who were affected want to do, so we’re still in that stage of like seeing what they would feel best with,” says Imundo.
Armani Burton, a senior member of the JAMC class who had his name and picture scratched, says he doesn't take it personal, but things like this shouldn't be happening on campus.
"That shouldn't be, like, happening, but also at the same time, I don't feel like it should make us fold in a way, or feel sad or feel like we aren't belonging," says Burton. "I just want people to know that it's okay. It's not supposed to happen but it did, and we can bounce back and be stronger than that."
The offense is considered “criminal mischief,” according to the Otterbein Police Report, and is classified as “anti-black.” Due to the position of the cameras in the Arts and Communication building, the incident was not captured on camera.
“Due to the location of the bulletin board next to room C148, there are no camera angles that capture the area in question,” according to the incident report provided by the Otterbein Police Department.
There are currently no suspects, and this report is closed pending further evidence.
