During Free Speech act testimony, SDSU President Dunn claimed “No Safe Zones” at University. But, where did that Safe Zone sign come from?

The Free Speech Act – House Bill 1087 – which is set to be resurrected tomorrow had some interesting testimony when it was heard the first time.

One item to pay attention to in the testimony is where one of the opponents, SDSU President Barry Dunn, claimed in testimony that there were no “safe zones” at South Dakota State:

(I’ve trimmed it up here… it’s about an hour and 8 minutes into testimony)

“We don’t have free speech zones, and we don’t have safe zones, either.”

But, at least in partial rebuttal, I’ve got to point a couple of things out.

On page 13 of the 1/3/19 correspondence between the regents and state legislators SDSU proudly reports on their “safe zones:”

The mission of SDSU’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access (ODIEA) is to enrich the university community’s understanding and appreciation of diversity, practice of inclusion, advancement of equity, and integration of access. ODIEA leads and facilitates the development of institutional policies and protocols intended to create a more representative, equitable, and inclusive university. Its roles on the SDSU campus include the following:

and….

Develop and host training and development programs with a focus on diversity, inclusion, equity, and access topics such as Safe Zone/Ally training, Diversity Academy, Difference is Dialogue, and other similar programs.

Read it here.

And in an attachment to the same January letter to legislators, SDSU says their “safe zones” are a “great accomplishment”

Diversity and Inclusion Committee (formerly Diversity Enhancement Committee) In 2002, the Diversity Enhancement Committee was created to facilitate communication, coordination and collaboration on matters of diversity and inclusion. Renamed the Diversity and Inclusion Committee in Fall 2012, it is comprised of faculty, staff, and students, is chaired by a faculty member and reports to the Faculty Senate. The CDO is the administrative liaison to the committee which includes representation from the OMSA so as to facilitate on-going and regular communication between these two important offices. Committee responsibilities include providing advice and counsel regarding the climate for diversity and inclusion and coordinating advocacy activities.

and…

Read that on page 269 of the same document.

And you can’t help but notice the “Safe Zone Program” on the SDSU Website.

But it gets better from here.  According to the passage above, a portion acknowledges there are signs that say “Safe Zone”  Which doesn’t exactly match up what with what was said in committee.

Interestingly, if you go looking for the SDSU signs noting the safe zones (that President Dunn says SDSU doesn’t have) you come up with these links on Google…

But if you click on them,  but the content seems to have been scrubbed from South Dakota State University’s web page. The links are clearly there (such as for safe zone faq’s), but the content has been removed.

However, despite the scrubbing of SDSU’s website, it looks like you can find examples of the signs for the posted safe zones out there if you look hard enough. One website claims this was the former design of the “Safe Zone” designation for areas on the SDSU Campus.

In fact, even the Collegian, South Dakota State’s school newspaper  had a mention of a safe zone located in the University Student Union in 2014:

“Looking at what other peer institutions had done, it’s very unusual for a student union not to have a GSA or LGBT group in an office space in their union,” Jenn Novotny, director of The Union, said.

and…

According to De Reza, the office will serve as a central place for people to come and learn about LGBT issues, and for people of the LGBT community to find support. Due to lack of their own office space, people may not know where to go to find this type of support or safe zone, De Reza said.

and..

The office space will also provide GSA with room for their Safe Zone Training, a service the group provides to various groups at the university, De Reza said. The office will provide a space for the group to meet as well as provide space for students to study or hang out in a safe environment.

“…It’s [office space is] something that we kind of need because though we do … blend with these other multicultural groups, we are becoming our own type of group as well, there are similarities yes, but there are differences, and the different kinds of needs we have…it’ll be nice to have a place,” Mosholder said.

Read that story here.

So, long story short… That part where President Dunn explained to Senate State Affairs that SDSU doesn’t have “safe zones?”  That might not have exactly been accurate.

A good lesson to take from this? When the Board of Regents or one of the Universities try to assure you that they “don’t” do something, take Ronald Reagan’s approach.  “Trust.. but verify.”

38 thoughts on “During Free Speech act testimony, SDSU President Dunn claimed “No Safe Zones” at University. But, where did that Safe Zone sign come from?”

  1. The Sioux Falls school district has those same signs in the windows of the counseling offices at the three main high schools. You are intentionally mischaracterized what these signs represent to fit your agenda.

    1. Does it or does it not designate a “Safe Zone”? Why is the LGBTQ community using cultural appropriation with their blasphemous use of the rainbow?

  2. So, it’s acceptable for a university president to provide incorrect information to a legislative committee, as long as it fits your agenda?

    1. Being “grilled” is pointless if there are no real consequences for what they’ve done to violate the rights of students who are powerless to defend themselves against the schools’ abuses of power.

  3. This leftist diversity bullshit is rampant everywhere on campus. Time to clean house

  4. Conclusion after this week: the university system is a mess and the presidents have no idea what the crazy professors are doing.

    The Regents are a bunch of rich donors who are checked out and clueless

  5. well, he lied alright.

    The presidents seem to lie a lot.

    Are witnesses sworn in before legislative hearings?

  6. The university presidents are salesmen. The truth doesn’t matter. They say whatever they have to. What happens at their institutions doesn’t matter to them as long as they can enjoy their private jets and donor parties. They let the crazy professors control things. Maybe the Regents will get wise and hire some strong, reform minded presidents. At ones that don’t lie constantly

    1. I think we’ve had a couple of sessions now where the Regents tell Legislators what they think Legislators want to hear. They’re just getting fact checked now.

  7. Again she didn’t lie because of the context of the question. It’s not the president’s fault our republican legislatures are lacking the mental capacity to ask proper questions.

  8. Don’t forget that usd also lied about social justice classes it used to indoctrinate students

  9. I think this bill needs to pass, however I disagree that the president lied. There is a big difference between this type of voluntary safe zone training program versus university mandated safe zones. If you want to take a voluntary safe zone training program and voluntarily put up a sign in your own dorm room or office it would be against free speech for the university to stop you. They can’t control students or professors voluntarily posting their own spaces. The difference is I’ve been at other schools where the university mandates safe zones regardless of your will and you have no free speech rights in those safe zones. In some cases at other schools the whole campus is a “safe zone”. Those are the big issues mandated by liberals to suppress free speech. SDSU does not declare the safe zones but the individual student or professor could. I also don’t see where there is a punishment to free speech if someone disagrees. There are plenty of reasons to pass this bill but I just don’t think this is one of them.

    1. All members of the Student Government Association at USD are required to go through Safe Zone training.

    1. Weary Wil, not that I’m aware of but if so then I rescind my post as that would be university mandated. I didn’t see that in reading any of the material posted or on Google so it seemed different to me.

      1. They didn’t create dorm floors. They do have specialty floors you can choose to live on. Some are academically based others are LGBT friendly etc. They are called community floors.

          1. Oh, you better believe they do.

            I’m curious if LGBT people ever leave the ‘safe zones’? From what I’ve been told the world is a dangerous place for them. They are subjected to microaggressions (i.e., insults, negative slights, pejorative comments), harassment, or acts of insensitivity related to their sexual orientation. And, they are not allowed in some places of worship without being criticized for their sexual preferences.

    1. If they are not put under oath, no. But it’s not smart either way.

  10. The PC-diversity efforts on campus are out of control. Colleges aren’t for social engineering students into Social Justice Warriors. Just let the kids learn and leave them alone with this crap

  11. Just know this: The proponents the bill are intentionally lying to you. This bill will do absolutely nothing to address the deep-seated fundamental problem. They know it will do nothing but are taking you all for fools hoping you will think something has been done so they don’t have to do the real work.

    The fiasco at the USD law school proves the point. They supposedly have a process and criteria but it was improperly utilized by the people in charge. You can pass as many laws, requiring as many disclosures and reports as you want. But, if you don’t address the personnel, it means nothing.

    This bill is an intentional attempt to deceive you they care about the issue. They don’t. The proponents are O’Brien from Orwell’s 1984. They are making you into Winston where you are fooled you are on the right side. In the meantime, the reality is you are tool of what you oppose.

    If this wasn’t so serious and evil, I’d give them credit for their cleverness.

      1. This is the last issue upon which I’ll comment. The proponents gross intentional deception makes silence to be a form of assent.

        1. Troy
          Your take I take seriously and am glad your back. I’m hoping this is the first step into get the BOR to get off their butts and do their jobs. These presidents need to be held accountable and the buck stops with them. If they cant manage their deans and employees fire them. Accountability should be in this bill.

        2. Liar. You’ve repeatedly made statements that you’re going away, only to come back.

          The opponents of this bill are intentionally lying to you..

          you’re one of them Troy.

      2. Can you keep a count of how many times Troy has posted some drama queen exit stage right on this topic, only to reappear in the next act?

      1. The 1st ammendment does not cover websites paid for by private individuals. Mr. Powers can do as he pleases with this website.

  12. I guess South Dakota is crying out for a Christian University where this type of pagan nonsense is not the norm. None of my kids will be going to any public university anywhere as I don’t want them to go through a brainwashing process of progressive idiocy.

  13. Much ado about nothing – sounds to me more like the Peer Ministry program at church with trained listeners helping LGBTQ et. al. with problems they’re facing – not some organized exclusion zone where skinheads are held behind barricades.

  14. How frustrating it must be for principled conservatives like Stace Nelson to have establishment Republicans like Lee Schoenbeck in the South Dakota legislature encouraging intellectual diversity on campus while ridiculing it in the statehouse.

  15. Anybody who has spent much time at SDSU knows that Barry Dunn in frequently “asleep at the wheel”. I’m would guess that he does not know what a “safe zone” is, and he may honestly not know that any exist at SDSU.

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