Three employees of Indiana’s Grace College and Seminary were fired earlier this month after posing as rappers for a parody album cover.
Each Friday the school’s marketing department has a “theme” day, and June 2 was dubbed “wrap day.” There were lettuce wraps available for lunch (get it?) and staff dressed up in rapper attire.
Five employees eventually posed for this photo:
https://twitter.com/LizCooper1010/status/877129428828123136
The Indianapolis Star reports that after the photo was posted on Facebook, the critical comments began rolling in.
“What point are you trying to make? That you’re gangster, thug, or hood?” one commenter wrote. “… And the only time they (the terms) seem to be okay is when white people use them to make light or fun of the situation.”
Naturally, too, the term “white privilege” was thrown around.
Three of the quintet, including Grace Special Projects Coordinator Evan Kilgore, ended up being terminated from their positions a week after the “wrap day.”
“I am feeling overwhelmed and hurt,” Kilgore told The Star. “We thought it would be a funny parody of the Grace College culture.”
“N.G.A.” is short for “Not Grace Appropriate,” a term jokingly used by students and staff on campus, Kilgore said. It refers to anything condoned “sinful” by the church and any behavior that is “not to be condoned,” Kilgore added.
“When we named our fake album, we never were implying that how we looked or what were dressed like was ‘not Grace appropriate,'” he said. …
The president of Grace College, Dr. Bill Katip, released a statement the day after Kilgore was fired.
“Earlier this week, an insensitive and inappropriate photo was posted by a Grace College employee,” Katip wrote. “This post elicited a significant amount of criticism, concern and hurt from our alumni, students, parents, friends and others.
“We must do more to help ensure people of all backgrounds are treated with respect and feel welcome,” Katip added.
More from President Katip’s statement:
It is important for the public to know that Grace College is committed deeply to diversity and inclusiveness, and conduct that demonstrates insensitivity to these values will not be tolerated. Grace leadership has taken steps to ensure that this sort of incident will not recur, and several of the individuals involved are no longer employees of Grace College. …
This incident has initiated a reexamination of the policies and training at Grace related to diversity and inclusion. While we strive to create a welcoming environment, it is apparent that we can and must do more to help ensure people of all backgrounds are treated with respect and feel welcomed on our campus.
As is often typical in college administrator-ville, Katip said that “reexamination” will “start immediately”!
Kilgore denies the photo is racially insensitive as the album cover lampoons images “typically seen in popular rap culture, which isn’t race specific.” He also says Grace “engaged in unequal treatment” by firing some, but not all, those involved in the parody.
He refused to say if he plans to file a lawsuit.
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