An e-mail sent by Dean of Students Burgwell Howard on Tuesday was meant to remind undergraduate students to choose appropriate costumes this Halloween weekend, Howard told the Daily.
Howard linked to coverage of last year’s blackface incident, in which two Northwestern students painted their skin black as part of their Halloween costumes. Widely-circulated Facebook pictures of the students sparked anger across campus.
Howard co-authored the e-mail with Associated Student Government President Claire Lew; SESP senior Candise Hill, president of Promote 360, an organization aimed at improving minority student experiences; and Theo Greene and Patrick Ryan, Graduate Leadership Council chair and assistant chair, respectively.
In the e-mail, Howard encouraged students to consider whether their costumes could be interpreted to be culturally offensive.
For the second time in two weeks, Howard’s campus e-mail was forwarded to the gossip site Gawker. Howard said his newfound internet fame isn’t entirely detrimental to the University’s public image and that many of the comments from alumni and students on the site have been heartening.
“The upside is that students are reading the message,” Howard said. “I know that people are having a good laugh with them, but the fact is people are reading the message.”
A blackface incident similar to the 2009 one occurred in 2008, but received much less media attention.
“Communicating to students who aren’t aware of the issue, who aren’t aware of how it affects other members of the community, is really important,” Lew said.
After the incident last fall, more than 600 NU students and faculty members attended a forum sponsored by ASG and the Coalition of Colors and Student Affairs to discuss race in the NU community.
Howard told The Daily it is important to stay proactive on issues like blackface.
“We had 700 people fill the Louis Room to have a conversation (last year),” he said. “We don’t want to lose that momentum.”
Sean Lavery and Lark Turner contributed reporting.
