Evanston city officials are planning a massive public relations campaign emphasizing the Pledge of Allegiance in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that decimated the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Although the multi-pronged outreach effort is still in its beginning stages, city officials said they plan to blanket downtown with patriotic billboards, fliers and flags.

They also plan to create a short television announcement with the help of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and will ask local schools to lead students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Some Evanston schools already have students recite the pledge, but not all do.

“Kitschy as it might be, it feels like we need this in the community,” said Hallie Rosen, co-chairwoman of Evanston’s Human Relations Commission, the organization leading the public relations effort.

The campaign, tentatively titled “One Evanston, One America,” is designed to smooth over racial divisions in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Paula Haynes, the commission’s director, said some Arab Americans worry about becoming scapegoats.

“The question I’ve gotten is, ‘Do we have Muslims in Evanston? If so, where are they and how many are they?'” Haynes said. “These are the issues we’re faced with. We have to take steps and say we’re all one America.”

In the short-term, the city will erect billboards featuring the U.S. flag and Pledge of Allegiance and will ask residents to sign the billboards as a symbol of unity, Rosen said.

As the nation’s war on terrorism continues, she said the city plans to sponsor town hall meetings, television announcements and use NU’s nationally televised home football games to draw attention to their campaign.

The commission approved the idea of an outreach effort at its Tuesday meeting.

Commissioner Leonard Stein abstained from the vote, questioning whether splashy patriotic propaganda would bring unity to the city.

“I have to ask the hard questions,” he said. “Do we have any reason to think that repeating that message is going to impel people to do what’s appropriate?”

But other members expressed support for the idea and said the patriotic emphasis is just the most visible part of the effort, which will include forums and small-group discussions as well.

Some residents already have begun to expect a response from the city.

Soon after the terrorist attacks, Evanston resident Sue Rayner said she placed flags in her home and car windows and attended a city-sponsored candlelight vigil.

But while Rayner said her visible patriotism makes her feel more united with other Evanston residents, she still cannot dispel the new sense of discomfort she feels around Arab Americans.

“Now I’m looking at Arab Americans a little differently,” she said. “That’s bad. I don’t want that.”

In the coming months, Rayner said she will look to the city’s public relations campaign to help her heal those wounds and start a dialogue with local Muslims.

Haynes said she hopes the campaign will foster communication between residents, especially those of different races and religions.

“Part of this is patriotism, part has to do with the racial program, part has to do with the religious piece,” Haynes said. “We don’t want internment camps for people who appear to be Middle Eastern.”

City officials are scheduled to meet next week to map out the public relations effort. Haynes said they should have many of the pieces in place by next month.

Funding the project looms as a significant hurdle in the city’s tight budget, but Haynes said she hopes to find private donors to offset its costs.

For the television commercial, which will take longer to put together, she said city officials will seek help from Medill professors and students.

Although the campaign would be unprecedented in scope, the city has collaborated with NU on several other public outreach projects. In the early 1990s, Evanston launched an anti-gang public service announcement that gained widespread national attention but little play at home.

Shortly thereafter, the city and the university again collaborated on an anti-gang television announcement that received more local attention.

This time Haynes said the commission might ask NU professors and students to help decide the television announcement’s main themes.

“This campaign is still very much in its infancy,” she said. “But we know we want (NU) to be a part of this.”