Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium is pictured here.Photo:Aaron J. Thornton/Getty
Aaron J. Thornton/Getty
Michigan State University has apologized for a photo of Adolf Hitler that appeared on the Spartan Stadium videoboard during a trivia quiz ahead of the football game against the University of Michigan on Saturday.
The image showed up on the screen as part of a question asked in the trivia quiz about where Hitler was born, according to footage shared of the incident on social media,CNNreported.
MSU Associate Athletic Director Matt Larsonissued a statementreleased on Saturday apologizing on behalf of the school.
The statement continued, “MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future.”
MSU Interim President Teresa K. Woodruff also sent an email to alumni on Sunday apologizing for the events at the trivia quiz, per CNN.
“I am deeply sorry for the image displayed at Spartan Stadium, which made many of our community feel alienated and unsafe. It was unacceptable,” Woodruff wrote. “I asked last evening for a full review of this university event and will take all necessary steps to align our messages and actions to our values.”
“I will work with our Jewish community and every member of minoritized populations to ensure Spartans feel that this is a place where everyone can live, work, go to class and attend events that are welcoming,” the contents of the email concluded.
According to CNN, MSU said the trivia quiz was from a video onThe Quiz Channel’s YouTube page.
“Prior to last night, the content has not been objectionable,” MSU wrote, per CNN. “As the statement acknowledges, we will implement stronger screening of all content to better ensure something like this never happens again.”
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“While I provide customised content packages for businesses, the utilisation of my publicly accessible YouTube content for stadium entertainment is highly questionable to say the least,” van Pallandt explained.
“MSU’s subsequent statement appears to allude to a third-party source, which seems to suggest The Quiz Channel as that very source,” he continued. “If this is accurate, that is unacceptable to me, as it is unacceptable for The Quiz Channel to bear reputational, performance, or financial repercussions due to MSU’s unsolicited use of our content.”
Van Pallandt concluded, “The trivia question displayed at the stadium is a legitimate one, and it’s imperative we don’t shy away from history’s more dark facets. Nonetheless, I would certainly not have chosen this particular question for a live stadium audience.”
source: people.com
