Mural of fugitive removed from campus, sorority responds

The mural was painted in March with help from Marquette’s Mu Beta chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Leona Dotson, international communications chairman of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., released an official statement on the mural, stating its theme was approved by the university before the chapter painted it.

“The chapter worked with the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center to determine a theme and imagery for the mural,” the statement said. “The chapter, along with other university staff and students, painted a mural that featured an image and quote by Assata Shakur to promote student thinking about their educations and history. Unfortunately Ms. Shakur’s entire history and background was not fully researched. If that process had occurred, she would not have been featured in the mural.”

The mural included a picture of Shakur’s face and two quotes of hers taken from her autobiography “Assata: An Autobiography.” Shakur, formerly known as Joanne Chesimard, is on the FBI’s most wanted list for escaping prison and fleeing to Cuba after being convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973. A statement on the mural was released by the university Sunday. It says university senior leadership “just became aware of a mural that was created and displayed in a remote area of campus.” The GSRC is located in room 425 of the Alumni Memorial Union.

“This is extremely disappointing as the mural does not reflect the Guiding Values of Marquette University,” the university statement said. “It is being removed immediately. We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the mural and will take appropriate action.”

Alpha Kappa Alpha referred to itself in the statement as consistently being “a beacon of peace, nonviolence and justice for all mankind.”

“In no way does the organization of more than 283,000 members condone, promote or tolerate the killing or violent activities of anyone,” the sorority statement said. “In order to prevent a recurrence, AKA is in the process of reminding all of its chapters, both undergraduate and graduate, about the importance of thoroughly vetting any person who might be promoted by the sorority before any action is taken.”

The GSRC did not respond to a request for comment by the time this article was published.

One report of the mural’s existence came May 16 from former political science professor John McAdams in a post on his blog Marquette Warrior. Marquette is in the process of removing McAdams from faculty after he publicly criticized a teaching assistant for not allowing discussion of same-sex marriage in her class last November.

McAdams is an outspoken conservative who condemned the GSRC in his post.

“Now we have yet another case of the extreme leftist agenda of the organization,” McAdams said about the GSRC in his blog post. “Yes, (Shakur) is the sort of person the ‘sexuality’ bureaucrats at Marquette feel deserves to be honored.”

The blog post received attention from conservative media including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin and WTMJ-AM talk show host Charlie Sykes. The GSRC also received criticism on Twitter, its Facebook page and on one of its Facebook posts that has been removed. The post was published March 24 and included pictures of the mural.